Alexei Mikhnov

Oleksiy Pavlovych "Alexei" Mikhnov (born August 31, 1982) is a Ukrainian-Russian former professional ice hockey left winger.

Playing career Mikhnov was selected in the first round of the 2000 NHL entry draft, 17th overall, by the Edmonton Oilers, and has only played in two NHL games, his first being a 5–2 win versus Phoenix. He was scoreless and even in 4:21 of ice time. His brother Andrei Mikhnov was also a National Hockey League prospect and played in the Ontario Hockey League.

Mikhnov spent four seasons in the Russian Super League and was considered a power forward prospect. Despite being from Ukraine, Mikhnov (unlike his brother) plays internationally for Russia.

After being drafted in 2000, Mikhnov was a mystery to Oilers fans. Even when he was drafted, he was considered an enigma. When he first arrived in Edmonton in 2004, the Oilers' front office discovered that Mikhnov had poor eyesight, leading to the team buying him a pair of glasses.

Mikhnov was one of the more famous players impacted by the inability of the National Hockey League and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation to agree on a transfer arrangement, a situation which more famously affected Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Evgeni Malkin. On June 20, 2006, according to his agent, Mikhnov gave his two weeks' notice which theoretically could get him out of his contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, and by early September, Mikhnov was skating in Edmonton, taking a spin on September 3 at the University of Alberta. Legal action by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to retain Mikhnov was swiftly dismissed in court. On September 5, 2006, Mikhnov signed a one-year deal with the Oilers.

On January 24th, 2007, Mikhnov was assigned back to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl for the remainder of the season. The Oilers gave him his qualifying offer to retain his rights, but never brought him over again.

In April 2011, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl opted not to renew his contract after 7 seasons with the club. In May 2011, Mikhnov signed a deal with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL. In June 2012, despite extending his deal just a week prior, Metallurg released Mikhnov.

In August, after a month on a tryout, Mikhnov signed a deal with HC Atlant. In April 2013, Mikhnov extended his deal for a year.

In August 2014, Mikhnov signed a tryout with Metallurg Zhlobin of the Belarusian Extraleague (BXL). In September 2014, he signed a deal with THK Tver of the Supreme Hockey League (VHL). Within a month, Mikhnov earned a deal with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.

In May 2015, Mikhnov signed a one-year deal with HC Yugra of the KHL. In November, he was waived and his contract was terminated by mutual agreement shortly thereafter. The next day, Mikhnov returned to THK Tver of the VHL. He remained there for two games before returning to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the KHL for the rest of the season.

Mikhnov remained in Yekaterinburg for the next two years, captaining the team in 2017-18.

In July 2018, Mikhnov signed a tryout deal with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL. On August 24th, 2018, Mikhnov was upgraded to a one-year contract. In October, the deal was terminated by mutual agreement. Within a week, Mikhnov signed with SC Csíkszereda, who compete in Erste Liga and the Romanian Hockey League. In December 2018, he signed a deal with Severstal Cherepovets of the KHL.

In July 2019, Mikhnov and his brother Andrei joined Metallurg Zhlobin of the Belarusian Extraleague. In 3 years in Zhlobin, Mikhnov led the team in scoring 3 times, led the Belarusian Extraleague in points once, and won two Belarusian Championships.

In 2022, Mikhnov opted to leave Zhlobin for HK Brest, but returned to Zhlobin mid-season.

In July 2023, Mikhnov signed with Albatros de Brest of FFHG Division 1 (France2).

In 2024, Mikhnov joined Chiavenna of the Italian Hockey League - Division 1 (Italian Tier 3).

After the 2024-25 season, Mikhnov retired to become an assistant coach for Metallurg Zhlobin of the Belarusian Extraleague.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1998–99 Lokomotiv–2 Yaroslavl RUS.2 14 2 2 4 4 — — — — — 1999–00 Lokomotiv–2 Yaroslavl RUS.3 40 22 13 35 4 — — — — — 2000–01 Krystall–2 Elektrostal RUS.3 46 4 7 11 10 — — — — — 2000–01 THK Tver RUS.2 22 5 11 16 6 — — — — — 2000–01 CSKA Moscow RUS.2 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2001–02 Salavat Yulaev Ufa RSL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2001–02 Dynamo Moscow RSL 26 2 1 3 4 3 0 0 0 2 2001–02 Dynamo–2 Moscow RUS.3 8 8 6 14 0 — — — — — 2002–03 Sibir Novosibirsk RSL 51 7 9 16 10 — — — — — 2003–04 Sibir Novosibirsk RSL 58 14 8 22 22 — — — — — 2003–04 Sibir–2 Novosibirsk RUS.3 1 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 2004–05 Sibir Novosibirsk RSL 26 3 2 5 12 — — — — — 2004–05 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 18 0 9 9 4 7 0 0 0 4 2004–05 Lokomotiv–2 Yaroslavl RUS.3 4 4 1 5 4 — — — — — 2005–06 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 40 14 7 21 18 11 4 4 8 4 2006–07 Edmonton Oilers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2006–07 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 27 6 12 18 22 — — — — — 2006–07 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 11 5 3 8 6 7 2 3 5 4 2007–08 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 52 14 20 34 50 16 3 5 8 14 2008–09 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 52 16 17 33 57 19 8 4 12 10 2009–10 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 40 7 14 21 16 17 7 6 13 10 2010–11 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 30 3 12 15 12 17 1 4 5 12 2011–12 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL 39 8 10 18 12 12 0 3 3 0 2012–13 Atlant Mytishchi KHL 39 11 8 19 22 5 0 1 1 2 2013–14 Atlant Mytishchi KHL 47 7 6 13 10 — — — — — 2014–15 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 42 9 7 16 20 5 0 2 2 0 2014–15 THK Tver VHL 6 3 3 6 14 — — — — — 2015–16 Yugra Khanty–Mansiysk KHL 20 2 2 4 6 — — — — — 2015–16 THK Tver VHL 2 1 2 3 0 — — — — — 2015–16 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 22 8 5 13 8 6 0 0 0 2 2016–17 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 38 6 13 19 12 — — — — — 2016–17 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 45 12 10 22 8 3 0 0 0 4 2018–19 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk KHL 6 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 2018–19 HC Csíkszereda EL 8 3 2 5 — — — — — 2018–19 HC Csíkszereda ROU 10 20 15 35 12 — — — — — 2018–19 Severstal Cherepovets KHL 22 5 2 7 4 — — — — — 2019–20 Metallurg Zhlobin BLR 50 18 18 36 63 4 1 1 2 0 2020–21 Metallurg Zhlobin BLR 41 14 18 32 16 13 8 5 13 2 2021–22 Metallurg Zhlobin BLR 53 27 26 53 37 7 5 3 8 0 RSL totals 283 59 59 118 126 44 9 12 21 26 NHL totals 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — KHL totals 442 95 107 202 187 84 16 20 36 40

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2006 Russia WC 5th 7 4 2 6 2 Senior totals 7 4 2 6 2