"I won't make a decision about the NHL until after the season."

The current KHL season is a very difficult one for SKA St. Petersburg. A month and a half before the playoffs, the club is in sixth place in the Western Conference and has lost several leaders due to injuries. One of them, team captain defenseman Alexander Nikishin, was also out for a week in January for health reasons, but managed to return and travel to Novosibirsk for the KHL All-Star Game last weekend.

In an interview with Izvestia, the 23-year-old hockey player assessed his team's performance in the regular season, commented on the progress of SKA's young forward Ivan Demidov, spoke about the situation with the suspension of the Russian national team, with whom Nikishin won silver at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and also said when he would make a decision regarding a possible departure to the NHL, where he was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

- What do you think of the Match of Stars in Novosibirsk?

- The organization is at an excellent level. It was a pleasure to play in a crowded arena in Novosibirsk. In principle, I always take part in such events with great pleasure. This is my third All-Star Game, but I still feel the novelty of being there. I can't even say exactly how it differs from the previous two. But every time there's a new wave - now and last time in Chelyabinsk and St. Petersburg. It's always interesting to be a part of it.

- Is there a big difference compared to St. Petersburg, where the arena holds twice as many people and last season there were more than 20,000 people at the All-Star Game?

- Still, Novosibirsk has a beautiful arena, too. And it too was packed almost to capacity. I'm glad that people in different cities can enjoy such events, to see a whole group of bright KHL players at once.

- In the season before last at the Match of Stars in Chelyabinsk together with you was from SKA then unknown to the general public Ivan Demidov, who made his way there through the MHL Challenge Cup. Back then, could you have guessed that he would become one of the league's top stars in two and a half years?

- It's been obvious for a long time that he's a talented guy and can do a lot. Maybe it was a surprise that he started to succeed so quickly on SKA's main team. But Vanya had and has everything for it. And when he received trust from the team's coaching staff, he used it. Hence the result.

- As SKA captain, do you give him advice on how to behave, how to approach things?

- No, it's not my business to give out such advice. I think Vanya himself knows what he needs to do to be at a high level. Just like Matvey Korobkin, who was with us at the SKA All-Star Game, having gotten there from the MHL Challenge Cup, like Demidov once did. My task is just to make sure they don't worry about various organizational issues. And inside SKA I just have to inform them about certain nuances in their work that they tell me about. And create an atmosphere so that they can play and train as comfortably as possible. So that they can not think about some everyday moments.

- At the end of January you got injured during the home match with Dynamo Moscow (3:5). Did you have any thoughts about saving yourself because of it and not going to the All-Star Game, as several other hockey players did after their injuries?

- No, there were no such thoughts. The main thing was to be healthy enough to go to Novosibirsk. My health is fine, so I went.

- Why did you manage to recover quickly from that injury?

- Why quickly? I didn't play for a week because of it.

- When they took you off the ice, it looked like something more serious.

- I was cleared by the doctor, so I came back. It's not like I was on the ice the next day. It wasn't quick - I missed three games.

- How do you evaluate the recent results and SKA's game? On the one hand, there was the home defeat at the hands of Ak Bars (3:8), on the other hand - in the last eight games, only two defeats. Can you say you're finding your game before the playoffs?

- There's always something to strive for. If we had already found our game, we'd be winning all the time. Still, there are moments when we make mistake after mistake. We try to clean them up. Especially with the playoffs coming up, we're preparing for it.

- Does it make a big difference for SKA where they finish in the playoffs?

- Of course, it's better to finish the regular season as high as possible because you'll start the series at home. But for us, it doesn't matter who we play, because we have to take every opponent seriously. Another thing is that inside the team, of course, there is no such attitude to the regular season that it doesn't matter if we stay in sixth place or go higher. No, we play our game and always want to win. It's clear that all games are different, but we try to win every game if possible. And in the remaining games of the regular season we'll try to win as much as possible. Then the place in the table will be higher.

- Are the difficulties in the current regular season stressful on the eve of the playoffs?

- We were written off last season, too, when we lost a big series of games in the regular season. And in the end, you don't even remember it now. That's why what matters is what happens in the playoffs themselves.

- Last season, we had some bad stretches in the first few months, but closer to the playoffs, SKA picked up the pace. In this regular season, you recently had a streak of four straight losses in January, and now you're sixth in the West a month and a half before the playoffs start.

- Still, I think it's no big deal. Yes, we want to win more and perform better, but the most important thing is to be successful in the playoffs themselves.

- Does "Carolina" keep in touch with you after they selected you at the NHL draft?

- Yes, sometimes we communicate. But not much more than that. Why? Why would they do that now, if I'm still doing business here. I'm busy at SKA, and Carolina is doing their job. Why do they need to talk about nothing? We'll talk afterwards, when the time comes.

- Have you already decided if you're going to leave for Carolina at the end of this season?

- No, I haven't decided anything like that. And I won't decide until the season is over.

- Is it important for you to win the Gagarin Cup with SKA before leaving for the NHL?

- I have a goal to win it every year. Otherwise, why play the whole season? You don't work hard just to participate in the championship.

- Did you go to Carolina after the NHL draft?

- I've never been to the U.S. or Canada. I've never been anywhere across the ocean.

- Would you like to?

- I'd go anywhere at all and see anything, but I've never been.

- You mean North America?

- Not just North America. In general, I would visit somewhere where there is hockey abroad. Finland, for example. Or Switzerland. But so far I have traveled to other countries just to rest a little bit and then back. There is not enough time for more. I have been only in Egypt, Turkey - where it is warm and have a good rest.

- Before the ban of our national teams you managed to play for the national team, to become an Olympic medalist. Are you following the news about Russia's ineligibility for the 2026 World Championship and possible admission to the next Olympics?

- No, I don't follow it. I'm not even interested in how it's going to go. We are waiting for the best, of course, but now I don't even want to read news on this topic. Just waiting for us to be admitted to international competitions. But I personally react calmly to everything. Moreover, there are a lot of matches in the KHL - there is something to focus on.

- So there are no emotions from the three-year absence of the opportunity to play in major tournaments?

- It's just some kind of waiting mode, that's all.

- Are you sad for young guys like Ivan Demidov, who were left without youth and junior world championships?

- I understand them very well, because I myself was left without World Youth and Junior World Championships. So we take the situation as it is. It's not a big deal. Some people get more opportunities to play at a high level, others less. I finally had a chance to play for the national team at the Olympics. I hope younger guys will get a similar chance.