Just ten days ago, Vladimir Tkachev was playing at a charity game in Russia between top KHL stars and Russian NHL athletes, scoring on Stanley Cup winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Now, he’s likely going to miss the majority of the KHL season.
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Ever since Vladimir Tkachev’s disappointing four game stint in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings, he’s hit the ground running. Signing with Avangard Omsk, He would notch a career high in goals, assists and points, notching 59 points (23+36) over 64 games. His 59 points would lead his team in points, above former NHLers Reid Boucher, Corban Knight and Sergey Tolchinsky.
The following season, he would not lose his stride. His 75 points last season would decimate the personal best he set the year prior, and his 55 assists was good enough for second best in the league. Most notably, he achieved these feats despite missing ten games last season. If he played all 68 games, Tkachev was on pace for around 88 points, just one shy of the KHL record 89-point season Nikita Gusev had this past year.
Despite his agent making it clear he was interested in an NHL return, he would return to the KHL for the 2024-25 season with Omsk. At the KHL/NHL Charity game in Russia, he looked hungry as he jumped on his own rebounds to score a greasy goal.
Unfortunately, that momentum has been halted right just a couple days before the opening of the KHL’s training camp.
Just yesterday, Hockey News Hub would report on a top KHL player who had just torn his achilles tendon while on a run. Many fans speculated about who the player might be, naming Nikita Gusev, Canes’ prospect Alexander Nikishin, Devils prospect Arseni Gritsyuk or even recent Habs first rounder Ivan Demidov.
In the early hours of the morning, the KHL would announce that it was Vladimir Tkachev who would miss significant time with a lower body injury.
Long before his KHL success, and his NHL stint. Tkachev was a member of the Moncton Wildcats and the Quebec Remparts where he would score 79 points (26+53) over 66 games in two seasons in the QMJHL.
Tkachev went undrafted, although he signed a deal out of training camp with the Edmonton Oilers at 18. The deal was vetoed by the NHL, as Tkachev did not play a full season in the CHL, splitting time in Russian juniors and Moncton.
He was part of the 2014-15 Quebec Remparts team that hosted the Memorial Cup, but lost in the semi-finals to Kelowna Rockets (who would lose to the Oshawa Generals in the finals).
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