Ivan Miroshnichenko will see his dream come true on Wednesday night. The 19-year-old forward is going to make his NHL debut for the Washington Capitals against the New York Islanders.
Miroshnichenko, the Capitals’ first-round draft selection in the 2022 NHL Draft, will be just the 15th player from his draft class to make their big league debut. The young Russian winger was recalled by the Capitals on Tuesday and practiced with the team for the first time on a line with fellow countryman Evgeny Kuznetsov.
“I was so happy and nervous at the same time when I heard the news and just enjoying being around here right now,” he said in Russian, translated by Aliaksei Protas after the skate. “Just so happy to be here.”
Miroshnichenko has 15 points (8g, 7a) in 27 games at the AHL level in his first season of North American pro hockey. Despite that short amount of experience, he told head coach Spencer Carbery that he is definitely ready to go.
Carbery had Miroshnichenko and Protas stop by his office at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Wednesday for a meeting. After a short discussion about his progression with the Hershey Bears, Carbery shook Miroshnichenko’s hand and made things official.
Carbery asked, “Okay, you ready for this moment?” And, he received a swift and confident “Yeah” response from a smiling Miroshnichenko.
“All right,” Carbery continued. “Congrats Miro. See you tomorrow.”
The rookie bench boss has Miroshnichenko slated to see his first NHL ice on a line with Kuznetsov and fellow rookie Hendrix Lapierre. Pairing the two Russians together was no coincidence as Miroshnichenko is still getting a grasp on the English language.
He should also be very comfortable playing with Lapierre as he started his AHL career on a line with him. The two were skating together when Miroshnichenko recorded his first career AHL point and first career AHL goal.
“I think that’s important–to make him feel as comfortable as possible,” Carbery said Tuesday. “Not just from someone being able to communicate, pre-scout things that are going on, here’s what we do in this situation, this situation, but on the ice as well, on the bench. Sort of walking him through scenarios. ‘Hey, here’s what we need to do here next time.’”
Miroshnichenko’s path to this moment has been far from the typical rise to the NHL. During his draft year, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on his 18th birthday and spent much of that season undergoing treatment and recovering. He then got back on the ice last year and skated in games at three different levels of Russian hockey, including 23 games for Avangard Omsk of the KHL.
After his season in Russia ended, Miroshnichenko prematurely got out of the final year of his KHL contract and signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Capitals. He attended his first NHL Training Camp this past fall and was one of the final roster cuts before the Capitals announced their 23-man roster to start the regular season.
Miroshnichenko was sent down to Hershey and bounced around almost every single forward line with the Bears under head coach Todd Nelson. He was even healthy scratched for a game so that he could better find consistency and slow his game down.
That roller coaster ride is definitely not lost on Miroshnichenko. “I’m nervous because basically I went through so many circumstances and different situations in my life. Worked for that for my whole life and everybody nervous, family is nervous. So just so excited about tomorrow.”
