Ivan Miroshnichenko: 2023-24 Annual Review And Forecast


Next up in our 2024 annual prospect review and forecast series is Ivan Miroshnichenko, forward for the Hershey Bears. (You can access  our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page or right here.)

VITALS

Miroshnichenko, 20, was selected by the Washington Capitals in the first round (#20 overall) of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The 6’1”, 195lb right-hander hails from Primorsky Krai, Russia, where he developed his game and ultimately garnered the attention of KHL and NHL scouts.

The Avangard Hockey Club and Miroshnichenko agreed to a mutual contract termination on May 1, 2023, which paved the way for Miroshnichenko to begin his hockey career in North America. The Washington Capitals announced shortly thereafter that they signed Miroshnichenko to a three-year entry-level contract. Miroshnichenko will earn $855,000 in the NHL and $82,500 in the AHL.

CAREER SUMMARY

Miroshnichenko began his hockey career playing for Vityaz Podolsk until the age of 18 when he joined the Avangard system. In 2021 he played for Omskie Yastreby in the MHL and joined the VHL team for the 2021-22 season. Miroshnichenko was also captain of Team Russia when they won gold in the 2021 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup.

2022 was a trying year for Miroshnichenko, as he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in February of that year. After undergoing successful treatment for the disease, which included specialized treatments in Germany, he was cleared by doctors to return to skating and workouts in June of 2022.

Capitals assistant general manager Ross Mahoney told NHL.com that Washington’s medical staff examined Miroshnichenko’s health records, and that he felt good about the player’s status following a video conference with him in May.

“I was in Germany in April at the Under-18 World Championship and met Ivan and his father,” Mahoney said. “I think he was already in his second round of chemotherapy, and he had lost a lot of weight, lost his hair, and he was wearing a cap. He looked really thin and I thought, ‘What a tough situation.’ Then we did a Zoom call with him in May when he was finishing up his treatments, and he looked a lot better.”

Miroshnichenko was subsequently cleared for skating and workouts in June but was not yet cleared to return to hockey in the KHL.

“He’s progressing, he’s skating, he’s working out. He’s not with his KHL team right now,” said Mahoney during Capitals media day back on September of 2022. “He has to kinda wait, almost like a medical clearance from the League. He’s been cleared by doctors, to go out and to workout and to do those sort of things. It’s more of a league thing.”

Mahoney also praised Miroshnichenko’s maturity and mental composure throughout the trying time he has gone through since his diagnosis.

“He was always a captain of his under-17, under-18 team, and even the tournament last November with the under-20 he was the assistant captain, so it is probably an indicator of his character…he went through an awful lot but I think it speaks volumes of his character and the type of person he is,” said Mahoney.

Miroshnichenko was finally cleared to return to the league and work outs with Avangard Omsk’s VHL (Junior) on October 21. He was subsequently cleared to return to games on November 6, 2022.

Miroshnichenko began his return by playing in six games with the Avangard’s MHL team (i.e. Russian Junior League). In those six games, he tallied six goals and recorded two assists.

Miroshnichenko then made his first appearance with the VHL team on November 21 in a game against Metallurg Novokuznetsk (More here). It was his first game with the VHL team since being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma back in February. He recorded two primary assists in the game.

Miroshnichenko joined the KHL team on December 3 and made his KHL debut on December 4. He scored his first career goal in the KHL on December 26 (More here). He played 23 games at the KHL level during the 2022-23 Season, notching three goals before returning to the VHL and MHL squads to finish out the season. Miroshnichenko finished the 2022-23 season with 16 postseason games, totaling 55 games since his return.

In 2023-24, Miroshnichenko came over to North America to play hockey. He primarily played with the season with the Hershey Bears, generally on the third line but sometimes moving up to the first or second line. He was recalled to the Capitals in early December but returned to the Bears at the end of the month. He remained with the Bears through late February when he was called up to the Capitals. He remained with Washington until they were eliminated in the playoffs. He then was loaned to the Bears for their drive to repeat as Calder Cup Champions.

His regular season statistics for the Bears were 9 goals and 16 assists in 47 games. During the Calder Cup playoffs, he played in 20 playoff games, scoring 5 goals and recording 5 assists.

For the Capitals, he played in 21 games, scoring 2 goals and recording 4 assists. He played in 1 playoff game for the Capitals but did not record any points.

In playing with the Capitals and the Bears for both regular season and postseason, he played 89 games this season which is a career high and remarkable after recovering from cancer less than two years before that.

2023-2024 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS

The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for Ivan Miroshnichenko during the 2023-2024 season. Also included are his monthly scores (0-5, with 2.5 being average). You can find all our monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.

OCTOBER

The Russian rookie has adapted to the North American well thus far. Miroshnichenko has a quick release on his shot. This is apparent on the power play when the winger is stationed in the left circle. He can get his shot off before the defense can get in the shooting lane. Miroshnichenko does need to improve his accuracy. He misses the net quite a bit and has converted just two of his 19 shots on goal. Still, the winger has looked comfortable in his new surroundings. He has played mostly with Pierrick Dube and Hendrix Lapierre on the third line and the trio have had good chemistry. The line brings a lot of speed to the game. Miroshnichenko amassed two goals and three assists in October. He recorded his first AHL point on Hershey’s first goal of the season against Cleveland on October 15 when he had the primary helper on Hardy Haman Aktell’s goal. Miroshnichenko potted his first AHL goal on the road in Providence on October 20. He one-timed a rebound off a Dube shot past Brandon Bussi in the second period. The second goal came two days later when he opened the scoring in Bridgeport. Miroshnichenko recorded his first multi-point game with a pair of helpers against Lehigh Valley on October 28. He got another professional first out of the way on Sunday versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton when he engaged Taylor Fedun in his first fight.

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NOVEMBER

Early in the month, Miroshnichenko made a couple of rookie mistakes. He had the puck along the boards as time was winding down in the third period in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on November 2. The rookie winger only had to keep the puck tied up and the game would head to overtime. He instead tried to clear the puck out of the zone. The attempt was intercepted and the Penguins scored with a half of second left to defeat the Bears 2-1. Miroshnichenko’s turnover in the first period a day later resulted in Bridgeport’s opening goal. His two-way game improved as November went along, especially after being placed on a line with Riley Sutter and Matt Strome. Playing with those two forwards forced the rookie to be more responsible on his own end. Offensively, Miroshnichenko posted three goals and three assists. The Russian produced a highlight reel assist on Riley Sutter’s second-period goal against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on November 22. He flipped a backhanded feed from behind the net to Sutter in front.

Miroshichenko recorded his second multi-point game of the season in the month’s final contest. He registered the primary helper of Sutter’s second-period tally versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 2022 first-round pick then snuck a shot through the arm of Marcus Hellberg in the third period to give the chocolate and white a 6-4 advantage. The marker became Miroshnichenko’s first North American game-winning goal as the Bears prevailed 7-5.

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DECEMBER

Miroshnichenko skated in the first eight games of December for the Bears before earning his first career recall to the NHL. The rookie winger began the month with a two-point game in Charlotte on December 1. He netted Hershey’s second goal in the first period when he pounced on a loose puck and slid it around the pad of Spencer Knight. The Russian also earned a secondary assist on Pierrick Dube’s second-period power-play goal. Miroshnichenko then went four games without a point. He snapped his drought with a goal in the first period against Providence. The winger snapped a wicked wrist shot from just above the right circle over Brandon Bussi’s glove to put Hershey ahead 1-0 in the first period. The next night, he struck again for a goal when he tallied on the power play against Laval. Two days later, Miroshnichenko was summoned to the Washington Capitals. He made his NHL debut in the Capitals game against the New York Islanders on December 20. He played in four games with Washington, going without a point, and was returned to the Bears on December 30.

JANUARY

The Russian rookie ended the month in a 12-game goalless drought. However, Miroshnichenko is still contributing offensively. In fact, the winger enjoyed his most productive month of the season in January. Miroshnichenko amassed seven points, all assists, during 2024’s first month. The seven helpers equal the number of assists he had coming into the month. Five of those apples were primary assists. The rookie sent the puck towards goal late in the third period against Toronto on January 28. Jimmy Huntington tipped the pass in for the tying goal. On January 24, Miroshnichenko recorded his second two-assist game of the season. The first of those helpers was on Huntington’s first-period tally that wound up as the game-winner. His second came on Pierrick Dube’s empty netter. It is a good sign that Miroshnichenko is not letting his goalless stretch affect the rest of his game, as rookies often allow slumps to permeate throughout their entire game. The Russian is showing poise beyond his years by contributing in other ways which bodes well moving forward.

 

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FEBRUARY

Like most of his teammates, Miroshnichenko’s offensive numbers dropped off a little in February. After posting seven assists, the rookie winger totaled three points in 2024’s second month. The good news for the Russian is he snapped his 18-game goalless drought in Laval on February 21. The goal came on the power play when he rifled a shot from the left circle past Jakub Dobes in the second period. Before the marker, Miroshnichenko’s previous nine points came on assists. He has nine goals and 16 assists thus far in his rookie campaign and is a plus 15, the second-best plus/minus among Hershey forwards. The winger was recalled to Washington at the end of the month but has not seen any action since being called up.

MARCH

In March, he played in 13 games for the Capitals, scoring 1 goal and four assists. He scored his first NHL goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 7, a game the Capitals won decisively.  He scored against the Edmonton Oilers on March 13. He recorded one assist against Vancouver Canucks on March 16. He earned an assist against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 20. His first two-assist game came against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 22

 

APRIL

Miroshnichenko played in 5 games for the Capitals but did not score any points for the remainder of the regular season. He played in just one playoff game for Washington and was held scoreless.

POSTSEASON

He was held scoreless in the first three games in the first round of the playoffs against Lehigh Valley but scored two goals in the fourth and series-clinching game on May 11 to break out in scoring hugely.

During the second round of the playoffs against the Hartford Wolves, he scored 1 goal in Game 1 (May 16) and 2 goals in Game 2 (May 18). His second goal in Game 2 put the Bears up 2-0. For that goal, he took a pass from Garrett Roe, skated his way through neutral ice to the left flank, dangled the puck around Hartford’s Matthew Robertson, cut across the slot on the right side, and out-waited Garand before lofting the puck past the sprawled netminder.  In game 3 he recorded an assist.

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During the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Monsters, he had 1 goal and 3 assists against Cleveland.  The goal was in game 3 (June 4) and he had an assist in that game, too.  He had assists in Game 2 and Game 4.

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In the Calder Cup Finals against the Coachella Valley Firebirds, he scored a goal in Game 2 and recorded an assist in Game 3.

For the Calder Cup playoffs, he played in 20 playoff games, scoring 5 goals and recording 5 assists.

PLAYER FORECAST

Miroshnichenko hopes to earn a regular role with the Capitals but will most likely start the season in Hershey. He will likely play in more games for the Capitals than for the Bears.

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