Ivan Miroshnichenko made an impact in the NHL this season, but a team in tumult kept us from seeing his true potential.
By the Numbers
| Summary | |
|---|---|
| 2 | goals |
| 4 | assists |
| 21 | games played |
| 12.1 | average ice time |
| On-ice percentages | |
| 47.6 | 5-on-5 shot-attempt percentage |
| 52.2 | 5-on-5 expected goal percentage |
| 38.9 | 5-on-5 actual goal percentage |
Isolated Impact by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This image by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows how the player has impacted play when on the ice. At the top of the image is the team’s offense (even strength at left, power play at right) and at bottom is the team’s defense (with penalty kill at bottom right). In each case, red/orange blobs mean teams shoot for more from that location on the ice, and blue/purple means less. In general, a good player should have red/orange blobs near the opponent’s net at top, and blue/purple bobs near their own team’s net at bottom. The distributions in middle show how the player compares to league average at individual finishing, setting up teammates to score, and taking and drawing penalties. The number at center is Synthetic Goals: a catch-all number for the player’s impact.
Player Card by Evolving Hockey
About this player card: This card from Josh and Luke of Evolving Hockey compares the player to league averages based on their impact on on-ice statistics. GAR means “goals above replacement,” where “replacement” means an average player called up from the AHL. xGAR is the same figure but assuming league-average goaltending. The numbers at top are the player’s percentile ranks overall and then for offense and defense alone.
Player Overview by NHL Edge
About this visualization: The NHL’s advanced statistics program, Edge, tracks player and puck movement. At left are the player’s numbers in various statistics along with the average number for that same stat among players of the same position and the player’s percentile rank in it. At right is a radar chart for various statistics, where the bigger the shape the better the player performs in those measures.
Peter’s Take
I need to admit something. I don’t really understand what we mean when we say upside. I think – but I’m not sure – that it’s like the chances that a player does better than what can be observed in the moment. If that’s the case, and I’m really not sure, Ivan Miroshnichenko has serious upside.
We only saw him for 21 games, and he only got real ice time in like seven of them, but that was enough to learn to like a bit about his game. None of which shows up in the visualizations above – he didn’t even have enough sample size to have an All Three Zones chart, and his NHL Edge data looks like it should result in a bug report in their Jira system, but we still know some. For one: dude can shoot. He’s got a heavy hand, though he didn’t have enough chances to use it – at least not at this level. He had 9 goals and 16 assists in 47 games for the Bears, for whom he’s doing stunner-level work in the playoffs right now.
With the big club, Miro saw success on Dylan Strome’s wing, but who wouldn’t? When he was on the ice without Strome, the Caps possessed 42.7 percent of the attempts, which makes me worry a bit. But playing limited minutes during limited call-ups to a limited team, his performance should be buried in asterisks. With the team making big changes for this upcoming season, Miro’s role should be larger – and the burden on him to deliver on his promise will be greater.
Player Summary by ChatGPT
Born in the area around Vladivostok, Ivan Miroshnichenko is no stranger to cultural exchange. Now playing North American hockey, the 6′, 1″ winger is adapting to the English language and communicating with his common-tongue comrades. Be that as it may, Miroschnichenko’s hometown is the outermost bastion of imperial Russia’s 19th century campaign into Manchuria. In his 2023-24 campaign, Miroshnichenko spent fractions of his obligation journeying between Hershey, Pa., and Washington, D.C. Contrarily, Miroschnichenko’s hometown sits on the border of North Korea. Be that as it may, Miroshnichenko and communist leader Kim Jong-Il were both born in the same area: Primorsky Krai, 10,008 km from Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Miro on RMNB
- Carbery likes his offense. “There’s some areas of his game that he’s going to have to work on details-wise, but when he gets that puck across the red line, look out. Something positive is usually happening — and even in the offensive zone for that matter.”
- The Caps cut Miro when they had to select a 23-man roster.
- He got in his first AHL fight. The Bears changed his locker stall name to Ivan Drago.
- Some of that choice offense in this breakaway goal.
- But his play away from the puck wasn’t ideal, and he earned a healthy scratch in November.
- The Caps called Miroshnichenko up just before the holiday freeze.
- On making his NHL debut: “I’m nervous because basically I went through so many circumstances and different situations in my life. Worked for that for my whole life and everybody nervous, family is nervous. So just so excited about tomorrow.”
- That debut came in December.
- Relevantly:
- Miro recorded no points in his debut but he made an impression.
- He played two games then got re-assigned. He didn’t stay down long; the Caps recalled him a week later.
- For a moment, the Caps had an all-Russian line again.
- Before the New Year, Miro returned to Hershey.
- It took two months for him to return, which he did when Mantha got hurt.
- Carbery, on that recall: “I know you’d probably point to the lack of production and say he hasn’t done much in the last whatever in Hershey, but he’s been up here, played games for us. We thought in this situation with a probably not going into the lineup we wanted to bring up someone that had been up here before this year.
- They had trouble getting him into the lineup; it happened only after Mantha got traded away.
- On March 7, Ivan Miroshnichenko scored his first NHL goal.
- “Hopefully it’s not my last one.”
- From Ovi: “I was happy for him. He’s great kid. He’s going to have a great future. And everything he’s been through the last couple years. So, see him play in NHL, getting his first NHL goal, it was pretty special, obviously.”
- The Caps faced a choice, and they pulled the trigger, playing Miro in more than 10 games and thereby consuming a year of his contract.
- His confidence with English is improving. But maybe not great yet according to Ovi.
A very good photo of Alex Ovechkin and Ivan Miroshnichenko from the Capitals’ TJ1K Party
- He got a couple healthy scratches late in the season, but he played in Game Three against the Rangers.
- Miro’s season continues in Hershey, as he’s scoring big goals for the Bears.
There’s a ton more on Miro, especially in Hershey, going on right now. Check it out.
Your Turn
Will Miro be a full-time NHLer next season?
