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Canucks Sign Nikita Tryamkin, What's Next?

The Vancouver Canucks sign Nikita Tryamkin, leaving many to wonder what kind of impact the towering Russian defenseman will have on their blueline corps.

After a few weeks of speculation, the Vancouver Canucks finally signed towering Russian defenseman Nikita Tryamkin to a contract, and the 21-year-old is expected to make his debut in a Canucks uniform before the end of the season.

Tryamkin has been a bit of an enigma for Canucks fans since he was drafted in the 3rd round, 66th overall in 2014. What will his addition to the lineup mean for the team now, and into the future?

Canucks Sign Nikita Tryamkin, What’s Next?

Tryamkin’s progression

To understand what Tryamkin is going to mean to the Canucks in the future, one must first look back to how he has progressed over the last few years. In his draft year Tryamkin caught the attention of scouts with a strong showing at the 2014 World Junior Championship in Malmo, Sweden. His imposing size immediately drew comparisons to a certain Norris winner from the Boston Bruins, Zdeno Chara, but his skating and agility for a big man is what really impressed. He helped the Russians to a bronze medal, scoring one goal and three points in seven games.

2013-14 was also his sophomore KHL season, and the then 19-year-old equated himself quite well, scoring seven points in 45 games for Avtomobilist. Going into the draft, while many felt he had a long way to go before rounding into an NHL level defenseman, all the tools where there, and the size was simply undeniable, so the Canucks did something they hadn’t done since 2007 by drafting a Russian.


Unfortunately, Tryamkin fell flat in his draft+1 year in Avtomobilist, seeing a steady decrease in his ice time and a drop down the depth chart, to the point where it looked like he may turn out to be at best a very long-term project and at worst a total waste of a draft pick.

However, Tryamkin has had a bounce-back season this year, as he saw his ice time during the regular season rebound nicely to a shade under 18 minutes, a number that jumped to more than 21 minutes in the post-season (compare that to the previous year’s post-season, when he saw under 10 minutes a night). He also showed progression on the offensive side of the puck, setting new career highs with four goals and 11 points in 53 games, as well as 71 penalty minutes. He also added to his resume with an appearance at the 2015 Spengler Cup, where he notched one assist in four games.

Clearly Tryamkin had finally taken the next step the Canucks were hoping he would have taken the previous year, and with his contract with Avtomobilist expiring at the end of the season (which technically for the KHL is April 30th but de facto occured for Tryamkin and his club after their loss in the opening round of the Gagarin Cup playoffs, a series in which Tryamkin scored one assist in six games), the time seemed ripe for the 21-year-old to make his way to North America.

How Does Tryamkin Fit in Vancouver?

This is a tricky question, as the fluctuating state of the Canucks roster and where Tryamkin will ultimately settle into it are up for debate. Complicating matters is that it appears Tryamkin is not interested in playing in the AHL, so the Canucks must find room for him on the big club if they hope to monitor his development in North America or else risk losing him long-term if he decides to head back to Russia.

That said, given the current state of the Canucks blueline, there’s room for Tryamkin to step in right away. Alex Edler is out long-term with a fibula fracture, while the status of Edler’s partner on the top pairing, Chris Tanev, is somewhat up in the air at the moment as he is day-to-day with an upper body injury. 

Those losses mean the Canucks are icing a blueline corps right now with Dan Hamhuis and Yannick Weber as the top pair, and Matt Bartkowski with Alex Biega and Luca Sbisa with Ben Hutton as the other duos. Aside from the veteran Hamhuis and the rookie Hutton, who just might be the Canucks most consistent defenseman this year, the others are considered by many to be borderline 6/7 defensemen at best, and there’s no doubt Tryamkin deserves a look over any of them.

Increasing Tryamkin’s chances to make an impact on the roster before the end of 2015-16 is a shift in the Canucks philosophy since the trade deadline. Apparently finally seeing the writing on the wall, the Canucks have accepted there will be no post-season appearance for the club this year, so instead they will focus on transitioning the club for the future and giving some of the team’s younger players more opportunities at the expense of veterans. 

Up front, that means more ice time for the slew of 23-and-under players on the roster, including the likes of Jared McCann, Jake Virtanen, and Brendan Gaunce. However, the only player on the back end under the age of 26 is Hutton, with Tryamkin, Jordan Subban and Andrey Pedan being the other young blueliners in Vancouver’s system who are close to making an NHL impact. Subban’s had an outstanding season for Utica, but Vancouver’s management (rightfully) seems to want to keep him there for the duration of the year, while Pedan has already had a cup of coffee with the team, meaning Tryamkin, after he arrives in North America, will be the next player to get a look.

Tryamkin’s role moving forward

Initially, where Tryamkin fits into the lineup doesn’t really make much difference. In highlights, the left-shooting Tryamkin looks equally comfortable on either the left or right side, giving coach Willie Desjardins some flexibility to work him into the lineup. 

Next year is where things are really going to get interesting regarding Tryamkin. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that Tryamkin isn’t completely buried at the NHL level initially, and at the very worst he shows just enough glimpses of the player he can become to earn a spot next year. His arrival in Vancouver could very well give the Canucks defense core the shot in the arm it needs. 

The vision for some time has been to eventually pair Tryamkin with Pedan, another massive (6’5″, 214 lbs) Russian defender who was drafted in the 3rd round by Vancouver (in 2011), and that could happen as early as next season. 

On July 1st, Hamhuis, Bartkowski and Weber all become free agents, and Tryamkin’s performance may have an impact on how many, if any, of those three come back into the fold, or who else the Canucks might target in free agency. It’s been assumed Hamhuis will seek a new contract with the Canucks and could likely take a home town discount, but the term and cap hit will be determining factors for whether the 33-year-old ultimately returns, while Bartkowski and Weber have been abject failures this season and seem unlikely to be brought back. With those loses, and barring any additions in free agency, the Canucks could ice a blueline on the opening night of the 2016-17 season that looks something like this:

Edler-Tanev

Sbisa-Hutton

Pedan-Tryamkin

Subban and Alex Biega are likely to compete for the 7th defenseman spot in this scenario, with Guillame Brisebois, the Canucks 3rd round pick from the 2015 draft, in the mix but most likely heading back to junior. In that group, Edler would be the elder statesman at 30 years old, fitting with the club’s philosophy of giving their young players, including Hutton, Tryamkin and Pedan, more NHL action. 

Chara or Bust?

Where Tryamkin goes from there is going to be an endlessly fascinating story to follow. He has the tools and the size to be a premier defensive defenseman in the NHL, perhaps even a franchise defenseman, while he also has the skating, shot, and mobility to be a contributor on the offensive side of the puck, including on the power play. Those comparisons to Chara are, after all, not unfounded. 

However, for every massive defenseman who comes into the league, there are questions. Will Tryamkin be an elite force like a Chara or a Chris Pronger, or will he struggle to put it all together like a Joe Finely (a 6’8″ first round pick, 27th overall, of the Washington Capitals in 2005 who has yet to play an NHL game) or a Taylor Doherty (a 6’8″ 57th overall pick by the San Jose Sharks in 2009 who has likewise never seen NHL action)? The NHL is littered with big defensemen who struggled to live up to the lofty expectations bestowed upon them purely on the basis of their impressive size and tools.

For Tyramkin, there’s no way to know right now, we’re just going to have to see how he adjusts to North American ice and the Canucks when he gets here. If however he does develop into half the player Vancouver fans dream he can become, his first taste of NHL action this season could long be remembered as one of the key points in the Canucks current rebuild. While the Canucks young forward group lacks superstar talent, they are coalescing into something solid this season and providing hope for a bright future. The same can hardly be said on the blueline however, where the Canucks prospect pool is rather shallow and has been a point of consternation for some time. Tryamkin could go a long way towards assuaging some of those concerns.

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