A recent interview with Colorado Avalanche prospect Ilya Nabokov offers something more interesting than another update on a young goalie trying to make the NHL. It provides a glimpse into just how much a player has to learn when he leaves one hockey world and enters another.
Nabokov, 23, was selected by Colorado in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft. After spending last season on loan with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), he is now preparing for his first full season in North America. The Avalanche have some established goaltenders ahead of him, so there is no guarantee that he will begin the season in the NHL.
Interestingly, Nabokov seems perfectly comfortable with that possibility.
Nabokov Understands That He Isn’t There Yet
Nabokov wants to play in the NHL. That’s obvious. But when asked about the competition in Colorado, he didn’t sound like a player who believes his draft position or KHL success should guarantee him anything. As The Hockey Writers‘ fellow writer Alessandro Seren Rosso notes, he understands that North American hockey is different and that he may need time in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Ilya Nabokov, Metallurg Magnitogorsk
(Photo by Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
That might sound like a small point, but it isn’t. Young players sometimes arrive in North America believing the biggest challenge is convincing an NHL team that they are talented enough. Nabokov seems to understand that talent is only the beginning. He has to learn the league, adjust to the smaller ice, communicate with teammates and coaches, and prove that his game translates.
That’s a much healthier way to approach the challenge.
Moving to the NHL Means Moving to a Different Life
The most interesting part of Nabokov’s interview may actually have very little to do with goaltending. He talked about opening a bank account, finding an apartment and getting a car. He discussed the altitude in Denver and how difficult it was to breathe while training. He talked about the language barrier and the help he received from Daniil Gushchin.
Those details are easy to overlook when discussing prospects. We tend to say that a young player is “coming to North America” as if he is simply changing leagues. Nabokov’s experience is a reminder that he is changing much more than that. He is learning how to live in a different country while simultaneously trying to establish himself as an NHL goalie. That is a pretty big adjustment for anybody.
Nabokov admitted that his English has improved, but not enough. He has spent considerable time back in Russia with his family, and his young son was born during that period. Now he expects to improve his language skills through everyday life in North America.
Ilya Nabokov, Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Photo credits: HC Ak Bars Kazan)
There is something encouraging about that. He isn’t pretending the adjustment will be easy. He is simply preparing himself to deal with it.
His Difficult Seasons May Help Him
Another part of Nabokov’s story makes his transition particularly interesting. After winning KHL Rookie of the Year and playoff MVP in 2023-24, he went through two more difficult seasons. He admitted that he put pressure on himself to prove his early success wasn’t a fluke.
That pressure affected him. But instead of treating those seasons as evidence that something had gone terribly wrong, Nabokov seems to have learned from them. Now he is arriving in Colorado with a fairly simple objective. He wants to establish himself in the NHL first. The money can come later. That may be exactly the attitude he needs.
The Avalanche don’t need Nabokov to become their starting goalie immediately. They need him to keep learning, growing, and adapting while taking advantage of whatever opportunities come his way. There is a long way to go before Nabokov becomes an NHL regular.
But perhaps the most encouraging thing about his transition isn’t what he has already accomplished. It seems he understands how much he still has to learn.
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