Overseas Update: Ivan Chekhovich named KHL Rookie of the Month

Ivan Chekhovich knows this year needs to count.

While the state of all three professional men’s hockey leagues in North America are in flux, most prospects sent abroad this fall are expecting to come back within the next month or so, assuming the NHL is able to return sometime in January. Chekhovich isn’t one of those players, though, instead playing out the year with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in Russia’s top men’s league.

After a disappointing debut AHL season with the San Jose Barracuda, the hope is that he’ll have a solid development year in the KHL. Since joining the Torpedo, Chekhovich has tallied  four goals and 11 assists over 14 games. He ranks seventh on the team in points, in half as many games as most players ranking above him.

For his play in the month of November, Chekhovich was recognized by the KHL as their Rookie of the Month:

Best rookie was forward Ivan Chekhovich (Torpedo), who scored 8 (2+6) points in nine games, with a plus-2 rating. The 21-years-old forward scored points in seven games, had 20 shots on goal, logged an average time on ice of 17 minutes and 49 seconds, and blocked six shots.

The Torpedo sit fifth in the Kharlamov Division with a 14-13-4 record.

Here’s a quick glance at how the rest of the Sharks are doing abroad (Note: I broke it down by league, to give an easy comparison of how players in the same league are performing. This does mean that Yegor Spiridonov and Adam Raska have multiple entries, as they have been shifted up and down between leagues):

-HockeyAllsvenskan-

Jonathan Dahlen, LW
Team: Timrå IK | 2020-21 Stats: 10 GP, 8 G, 13 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 22 | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 181 | Shoots: L

Marcus Sorensen, LW/RW
Team: HC Vita Hästen | 2020-21 Stats: 14 GP, 11 G, 13 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 28 | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 174 | Shoots: L

Joel Kellman, C
Team: Kristianstads IK | 2020-21 Stats: 14 GP, 3 G, 2 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 26 | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 192 | Shoots: L

-SHL-

Linus Öberg, C/W
Team: Örebro HK | 2020-21 Stats: 18 GP, 7 G, 0 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 203 | Shoots: R

Fredrik Händemark, C
Team: Malmö Redhawks | 2020-21 Stats: 18 GP, 3 G, 8 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 27 | Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 209 | Shoots: L

-Liiga-

Antti Suomela, C
Team: HIFK | 2020-21 Stats: 10 GP, 2 G, 3 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 26 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 179 | Shoots: L

Santeri Hatakka, D
Team: Ilves | 2020-21 Stats: 19 GP, 1 G, 2 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 183 | Shoots: L

Timur Ibragimov, LW
Team: TPS | 2020-21 Stats: 14 GP, 5 G, 0 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 183 | Shoots: L

-MHL-

Yegor Spiridonov, C/LW
Team: SKA-1946 St. Petersburg | 2020-21 Stats: 7 GP, 2 G, 4 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 185 | Shoots: R

Artemi Knyazev, D
Team: Irbis Kazan | 2020-21 Stats: 2 GP, 1 G, 0 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 19 | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 183 | Shoots: L

-VHL-

Yegor Spiridonov, C/LW
Team: SKA-Neva St. Petersburg | 2020-21 Stats: 3 GP, 2 G, 1 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 185 | Shoots: R

Artemi Knyazev, D
Team: Bars Kazan | 2020-21 Stats: 5 GP, 1 G, 3 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 19 | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 183 | Shoots: L

-KHL-

Yegor Spiridonov, C/LW
Team: SKA St. Petersburg | 2020-21 Stats: 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 185 | Shoots: R

Emil Galimov, LW/RW
Team: SKA St. Petersburg | 2020-21 Stats: 10 GP, 4 G, 3 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 28 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 185 | Shoots: L

Tony Sund, D
Team: Dinamo Riga | 2020-21 Stats: 20 GP, 0 G, 8 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 21 | Ht: 6-3 | Wt: 183 | Shoots: L

Ivan Chekhovich, LW
Team: Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | 2020-21 Stats: 14 GP, 4 G, 7 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 21 | Ht: 5-10 | Wt: 185 | Shoots: L

Alexei Melnichuk, G
Team: Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | 2020-21 Stats: 12 GP, 2.64 GAA, .914 SV% | Nationality: RUS | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 187 | Catches: L

-Czech-

Adam Raska, LW/RW
Team: HC Ocelari Trinec | 2020-21 Stats: 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A | Nationality: CZE | Age: 19 | Ht: 5-10 | Wt: 163 | Shoots: R

Josef Korenar, G
Team: HC Ocelari Trinec | 2020-21 Stats: 7 GP, 2.73 GAA, .900 SV% | Nationality: CZE | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 185 | Catches: L

-Czech2-

Adam Raska, LW/RW
Team: HC Frydek-Mistek | 2020-21 Stats: 9 GP, 0 G, 1 A | Nationality: CZE | Age: 19 | Ht: 5-10 | Wt: 163 | Shoots: R

-Denmark-

Joachim Blichfeld, RW/LW
Team: Frederikshavn White Hawks | 2020-21 Stats: 9 GP, 3 G, 4 A | Nationality: DEN | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 187 | Shoots: R

Alex True, C
Team: Rungsted Seier Capital | 2020-21 Stats: 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A | Nationality: DEN | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-5 | Wt: 201 | Shoots: L

-DEL-

Lean Bergmann, C/W
Team: Adler Mannheim | 2020-21 Stats: 0 GP, 0 G, 0 A | Nationality: GER | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 205 | Shoots: L