Ilya Mikheyev’s name may have been lost amid the slew of free-agent additions that were made by the Chicago Blackhawks on July 1, as he was acquired before that frenzy and before the NHL Draft a few days earlier. But his acquisition was one of the early signs that Chicago is indeed hoping to remove itself from the bottom of the league standings, as Mikheyev is a player who could be another solid contributor for the 2024-25 season.
Mikheyev, who’ll turn 30 in October, came over to the NHL from his native Russia prior to the 2019-20 season, initially signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Injuries have hampered his career, though: he skated in 54 of the 56 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season and then had his 2022-23 season cut short by a torn ACL. He did skate 78 games last season, although his production took a hit with only 31 points (11 G, 20 A) tallied and a postseason injury sidelined him for a pair of Vancouver’s 13 playoff games in 2024. The 0.40 point-per-game rate from last season was the second lowest of his 5-year NHL career and decently below his career mark of 0.49, but it’s not uncommon for players to struggle in the initial season following a knee operation.
Still, the decline in production is not the best sign, considering Mikheyev’s top linemate last season was blossoming NHL star Elias Pettersson, who skated 466:22 at 5-on-5 with Mikheyev, per Natural Stat Trick. Roughly 18.5 percent of Mikheyev’s ice time was on a line with Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko, per data from Dobber’s Sports, while another 11.2 percent was on a line with that duo accompanied by old friend Sam Lafferty — so it’s not like Mikheyev was responsible for carrying a couple of fourth-line bums around last season.
At the height of his powers, Mikheyev was a player with world-class speed:
Mikheyev didn’t see much power-play time in Vancouver, coming in at 68:07 during the 2022-23 season and 69:28 last season, with all 31 of his points in 2023-24 coming at even strength. He wasn’t much of a PK skater, either, clocking in at 64:28 and 61:30, respectively, in the last two seasons.
So 5-on-5 hockey is likely to be where Mikheyev affects games the most, and there is some data out there to suggest that his overall production during that part of the game was well above average:
That second tweet in the thread also touches on the possibility of Vancouver’s system limiting the effects that someone with Mikheyev’s speed can have on the game.
Really, the overall story on Mikheyev is a mixed bag with conclusions that can be pulled from any direction. He could be a formerly productive player who’s just beginning the downhill slide on the backside of his career hampered by a knee injury that took away his strongest attribute: speed. Or he could be a useful 5-on-5 player who was not a good system fit in Vancouver and the combination of a more appropriate use of his talent along with more time for his body to recover from that major knee operation will allow him to be a reliable middle-six contributor in the upcoming season.
Either way, we’ll find out in a few months.