While waiting for the call to Vancouver, Nikolay Goldobin keeps developing with the Utica Comets

J.D. Burke

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While waiting for the call to Vancouver, Nikolay Goldobin keeps developing with the Utica Comets image

Vancouver's acquisition of Nikolay Goldobin from the San Jose Sharks at last year's trade deadline meant so much more than your average deal of its ilk.

It wasn't just that trading Jannik Hansen to acquire a prospect, like Goldobin, meant the Canucks were making moves that aligned with their reality — that of a rebuilding team with both eyes fixed on the future even if it came at the expense of the present. That was refreshing, certainly, but what this deal meant from a philosophical standpoint was more significant.

"Goldobin's always been a goalscorer," Canucks general manager Jim Benning told a room of reporters after they first dealt for the winger. "Going back to junior even and (in his time) in the American league. We're looking at him to add to our offensive group and be a scorer for us."

Not once did leadership or a strong two-hundred-foot game make its way into the discussion. Obviously those are qualities you'd always hope to have in a hockey player, but for the two years prior Vancouver always erred on the side of caution, placing a premium on them ahead of skill and offensive ability. The Canucks inability to produce offence reflected as much; they finished 29th in consecutive years in goals for per game.

It was a seismic shift in philosophy at Pat Quinn Way, and the aftershock is still being felt months later.

As for Goldobin, he scored in his first game as a Canuck on a breakaway against the Los Angeles Kings. For the trouble, then-Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins stapled him to the bench. Goldobin was in and out of the Canucks lineup right up until the end of the season.

The adversity continued for Goldobin into this season, as he couldn't crack the roster out of camp. Part of that is circumstantial. It would've taken a Herculean effort on Goldobin's part after a summer that Vancouver used spending on veteran goal scorers, shutting the dor on any opening in the lineup.

According to Utica Comets head coach Trent Cull, Goldobin was, understandably, sad upon receiving the news that he'd be starting yet another season in the AHL.

"I don’t deserve any of the credit — it was Nikolay’s doing," Cull told Sporting News Canada. "He (was upset) as anybody would be. You’re trying to make the NHL, and you’re in Vancouver, and you get sent down. Oobviously, that’s where guys want to be. And we want to keep them hungry for that too. 

"(Goldobin) was a little bit (downtrodden). For (Goldobin), it was all about what we’ve got to do here. And I said, ‘How are we going to get you back there? How are we going to do it?’ That was how the conversation went. And overall, he’s done a pretty darn good job for us."

Since joining the Comets, Goldobin's lit the AHL on fire. He's been in and out of the top ten of league scoring from the onset of the season, and his 14 points (six goals and eight assists) are good enough for sole possession of the team lead in Utica. 

Encouraging as that may be for Goldobin and the Canucks, it was never his offensive capabilities that needed improving.

"When coach Green and the Canucks staff spoke to me, they told me to focus more on (my) play away from the puck," Goldobin told Sporting News Canada. "I’m currently working on what Coach Green directed me to improve on, in hopes (that) it will elevate my game to the NHL."

Cull said he trusts his own eye to evaluate Goldobin's play defensively on a game-by-game basis, rather than focusing on statistics, and the results are mostly positive. After nearly every game, the two talk about his work away from the puck and how well he's moving his feet.

Goldobin has been putting in the work to improve defensively, Cull said, and so far the results have been mostly positive.

"A part of that, for sure, is his puck decisions and making sure that he’s making sound plays in the offensive zone," Cull said. "If he’s doing that, a lot of times, it doesn’t lead to defensive zone hockey. Part of that, too, is that he’s doing a really good job of working on tracking. And when I refer to tracking, that’s when the opposition is coming back into our zone, versus a rush or backchecking.

"He’s done a really good job of picking up the right guys. And the other part, it’s hard work. It’s easy going the offensive way but he’s also applied himself to the work defensively. Before, too, he’d be jumping in, and he’s a low guy in there helping.

The Comets are so committed to improving Goldobin's in-zone play that they're using him on their penalty kill. Cull admitted that it's a fifty-fifty split, equal parts a reward for the steps he's taken already to improve defensively and a way to get those reps in game situations.

"No, I have (never) killed penalties before," Goldobin said. "It means a lot. It’s important to me as a player to be relied upon in any situation."

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If Goldobin can develop into a passable player at even strength in the defensive zone, the Canucks should get full value for the Russian sniper. Using the pGPS draft analytics metric, developed by CanucksArmy's Jeremy Davis, nearly 70 percent of the players Goldobin compares to using historical comparables based on stature and production went on to have full time NHL careers. They carry an expected production rate of 56 points per 82 games,  well above average first line production. The skill is there to the naked eye, too.

"(Goldobin's) done a good job of adapting to how we’re playing," Cull said. "The one thing is, and I’ve talked a lot with Travis Green in Vancouver, we’re pretty close with our systems. I’m sure there’s a couple of things that are different, and they’ll be adapting in games, the same as us. In the offensive zone, we want him to have the puck. We want him to move his feet. He’s a good player, he sees the ice well, he protects the puck well. I’ve endorsed that with him. I want him to protect the puck and find those good plays, and I think he’s relished that."

J.D. Burke