Viktor Kozlov

Viktor Nikolayevich Kozlov (; born 14 February 1975) is a Russian former professional ice hockey center and coach. He is the current head coach of the Kontinental Hockey League's Salavat Yulaev Ufa.

Playing career Kozlov was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the first round as the sixth overall selection in the 1993 NHL entry draft. Kozlov scored his first career goal for the Sharks against Ed Belfour and the Chicago Blackhawks on 21 March 1995 in a 7–3 Sharks loss. He would play a few seasons in San Jose before being traded to the Florida Panthers on 13 November 1997. It would be in Florida, playing with Pavel Bure, that Kozlov would have his best years. His best season was during the 1999–2000 season when he set career highs in assists and points. He played with the Panthers until 1 March 2004, when he was traded to the New Jersey Devils for Christian Berglund and Victor Uchevatov.

During the NHL lockout that wiped out the 2004–05 NHL season, Kozlov played for Lada Togliatti in the Russian Superleague (RSL). However, he returned to the Devils when the NHL started up again.

Kozlov was signed as a free agent by the New York Islanders in 2006. On December 3, 2006, he recorded his second career hat trick and first career four-goal game. Despite a hat trick of his own by Brendan Shanahan, the Islanders defeated rival New York Rangers 7–4 at Madison Square Garden. The four goals gave him a total of six in a 24-hour period — he had scored twice the previous night in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.

On 1 July 2007, Kozlov signed a two-year contract with the Washington Capitals. On 15 April 2009, after 15 NHL seasons Kozlov scored his first playoff goal as a member of the Capitals.

On 9 June 2009, Salavat Yulaev Ufa signed Kozlov to a three-year contract, signifying the end of his successful NHL career. In each season with Salavat, Kozlov helped the club qualify for the post-season and was part of the leadership group, Captaining for one year.

Kozlov opted to sign as a free agent on a two-year contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl from the 2012–13 season. In scoring just 1 goal in 21 games, Kozlov was traded to fellow KHL club, HC CSKA Moscow on January 9, 2013. Plagued by injury throughout his tenure with CSKA, Kozlov missed the entire 2013–14 campaign.

On June 19, 2014, Kozlov signalled a return to health in signing a one-year contract to provide a veteran presence with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.

In September 2015, Kozlov retired from playing hockey, instead joining Metallurg Magnitogorsk as their assistant coach on October 19, 2015.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1990–91 Lada Togliatti URS.2 2 2 0 2 0 — — — — — 1991–92 Lada Togliatti CIS 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1992–93 Dynamo Moscow RUS 30 6 5 11 4 10 3 0 3 0 1993–94 Dynamo Moscow RUS 42 16 9 25 14 7 3 2 5 0 1994–95 Dynamo Moscow RUS 3 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 1994–95 San Jose Sharks NHL 16 2 0 2 2 — — — — — 1994–95 Kansas City Blades IHL 4 1 1 2 0 13 4 5 9 12 1995–96 Kansas City Blades IHL 15 4 7 11 12 — — — — — 1995–96 San Jose Sharks NHL 62 6 13 19 6 — — — — — 1996–97 San Jose Sharks NHL 78 16 25 41 40 — — — — — 1997–98 San Jose Sharks NHL 18 5 2 7 2 — — — — — 1997–98 Florida Panthers NHL 46 12 11 23 14 — — — — — 1998–99 Florida Panthers NHL 65 16 35 51 24 — — — — — 1999–00 Florida Panthers NHL 80 17 53 70 16 4 0 1 1 0 2000–01 Florida Panthers NHL 51 14 23 37 10 — — — — — 2001–02 Florida Panthers NHL 50 9 18 27 20 — — — — — 2002–03 Florida Panthers NHL 74 22 34 56 18 — — — — — 2003–04 Florida Panthers NHL 48 11 16 27 16 — — — — — 2003–04 New Jersey Devils NHL 11 2 4 6 2 2 0 0 0 0 2004–05 Lada Togliatti RSL 52 15 22 37 22 10 3 3 6 6 2005–06 New Jersey Devils NHL 69 12 13 25 16 3 0 0 0 0 2006–07 New York Islanders NHL 81 25 26 51 28 5 0 2 2 2 2007–08 Washington Capitals NHL 81 16 38 54 18 7 0 3 3 2 2008–09 Washington Capitals NHL 67 13 28 41 16 14 4 2 6 6 2009–10 Salavat Yulayev Ufa KHL 48 10 18 28 43 16 3 4 7 0 2010–11 Salavat Yulayev Ufa KHL 48 17 15 32 14 21 4 6 10 2 2011–12 Salavat Yulayev Ufa KHL 36 10 16 26 8 6 1 0 1 2 2012–13 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 21 1 5 6 14 — — — — — 2012–13 CSKA Moscow KHL 6 1 0 1 0 4 0 1 1 4 2014–15 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 18 0 3 3 0 — — — — — KHL totals 177 39 57 96 79 47 8 11 19 8 NHL totals 897 198 339 537 248 35 4 8 12 10

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1992 Russia EJC 6 3 3 6 2 1993 Russia EJC 6 3 3 6 4 1993 Russia WJC 6th 7 2 1 3 2 1996 Russia WC 4th 8 0 3 3 0 1998 Russia WC 5th 6 4 5 9 0 2000 Russia WC 11th 6 1 3 4 2 2004 Russia WCH 5th 4 1 0 1 0 2005 Russia WC 9 1 0 1 0 2006 Russia OG 4th 8 2 3 5 2 2010 Russia OG 6th 4 1 0 1 0 2010 Russia WC 9 1 2 3 2 Junior totals 19 8 7 15 8 Senior totals 54 11 16 27 6