The Arizona Coyotes have claimed forward Viktor Tikhonov off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 27-year-old former KHLer was originally a Coyotes 1st round draft pick (28th overall) back in 2008. He played 61 games with the ‘Yotes in the 2008-09 season, scoring eight goals and eight assists. He was sent down to the AHL the following year and eventually loaned out to a KHL club. The next year he was in the AHL again.
After that, Tikhonov moved over to the KHL on a permanent basis, playing four years with SKA St. Petersburg, where he had quite a bit of success.
The Blackhawks placed Tikhonov on waivers Saturday after he failed to post a point in his first 11 games with the club. He had served as a friend and sometimes translator for ‘Hawks rookie Artemi Panarin.
Averaging just 10:08 of ice time per game, Tikhonov hadn’t contributed a lot to the ‘Hawks offensive depth in his limited time. He has 11 shots, 19 hits and two blocked shots so far this season to go along with a 6.7% score-adjusted CF%Rel and a +6.71 dCorsi Impact.
Another good guy and good quote on his way out of the #Blackhawks room. I'll miss the vaudeville act that was Panarin and TIkhonov.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) December 6, 2015
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