Ilya Nabokov isn’t committing just yet to when he’s going to make his way over to the NHL, but whenever he does come to North America, he has some pretty lofty goals.
In a new interview with Sergey Demidov of Responsible Gambling, Nabokov spoke about his big plans for the future.
“Andrei Vasilevskiy, Sergei Bobrovsky, Igor Shesterkin—these are Russian goalies who have won the Vezina Trophy as the best goalies in the NHL regular season, and I want to join them,” Nabokov told Demidov. “My goal is to become the best goalie in the world, and I will strive for that.”
Colorado Hockey Now is still working to speak to Nabokov about his experience leading up to the draft and being drafted by the Colorado Avalanche. A few weeks back, the 21 year old goaltender showcased his skills against NHL stars like Artemi Panarin and Alex Ovechkin in a charity match. It certainly doesn’t compare to a real game, but in shootout and penalty shot scenarios, he handled himself quite well.
The reigning KHL Rookie of the Year has one more year left on his KHL contract, and hasn’t committed to coming to the NHL once that deal is up just yet. His goal for this season is winning another KHL Championship this coming season, as players have already begun reporting for training camp. We’ve seen a few prospects terminate their KHL deals to head to North America. Just today, Igor Chernyshov, who was taken before Nabokov in this year’s draft, terminated his contract overseas and appears as though he’ll either play in the AHL or the OHL. Pittsburgh just got their highly touted goaltending prospect to come to North America at 20 years old just yesterday.
That doesn’t seem likely to happen with Nabokov right now, but it does seem like NHL teams are having a bit more success getting Russian players to cross the pond at a younger age.
Nabokov and a few others have mentioned how important this coming season is, as he has to show last year was not a fluke. KHL players have reported for medical assessments, and the regular season for Nabokov opens on Sept. 3.
If you missed the links above, you can read the full interview here. He also discusses talking to Sakic after the draft, and a few other things.
