Nikita Filatov

Nikita Vasilyevich Filatov (Никита Васильевич Филатов; born May 25, 1990) is a Russian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

At the age of 15 during the 2005–06 season, he made his debut for CSKA-2—the club's junior team—where he continued to play during the 2006–07 season, and averaged more than three points per game.

In the same season, Filatov made his international debut for Russia at the World Under 18 Championship.

During the 2007–08 season, Filatov made his professional Russian Superleague (RSL) debut with CSKA, seeing limited action in five games.

He spent the majority of the season playing at the junior level in Russia.

With his CSKA junior team, Filatov played in 23 games, scoring 23 goals and providing 24 assists.

After the 2007–08 season, Filatov was selected sixth overall at the Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

At the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Filatov was selected sixth overall by the Blue Jackets.

Filatov was the top-ranked European skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.

Filatov played two seasons with the Blue Jackets organization.

He was named to the Tournament All-Star Team at the 2008 World U18 Championships and the 2009 World Junior Championships.

Filatov played minor and junior hockey in the CSKA Red Army hockey system from the age of 13.

Leading up to the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, the League's annual meeting at which the rights to amateur players are divided among teams, the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau ranked Filatov as the top European skater in their mid-term and final rankings.

Filatov was also the first overall selection in the 2008 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft, selected by the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Sudbury General Manager Mike Foligno was comfortable with the risks of not knowing whether Filatov would play at junior or professional level when he came to North America.

Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson would not guarantee Filatov a place on their team, saying, "We've already told Nikita that we'll see how things go in training camp and we'll decide what's best for him."

After being drafted by the Blue Jackets, Filatov signed a three-year contract with the club on July 10, 2008.

His base salary for the contract was $875,000, with bonus clauses that could bring the value as high as $1.35 million per season.

His signing with Columbus created some controversy within the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), however, as League President Alexander Medvedev claimed that the Blue Jackets owed CSKA Moscow compensation of at least $1.5 million for signing Filatov.

Medvedev claimed that although the term of the contract had expired, under Russian law it did not terminate until an indemnity amount had been negotiated.

The Blue Jackets and Filatov believed that giving his club 30 days notice was sufficient to terminate the contract.

CSKA threatened to withhold Filatov's transfer card, thus impeding his ability to play in another league, but Filatov, his lawyers and the Blue Jackets believed they had followed the necessary tenets of Russian law.

Filatov's contract was one of six reviewed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in an attempt to mediate the disputes between the KHL and NHL.

During this investigation, the players were unable to play international hockey sanctioned by the IIHF.

In September, the KHL dropped its opposition to Filatov's contract with the Blue Jackets, and he received his transfer.

Filatov did not make the team after attending training camp with the Blue Jackets, instead making his North American professional debut for the Blue Jackets' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.

On October 15, 2008, however, Filatov was called up to the NHL, playing in his first game and scoring his first goal with the Blue Jackets on October 17 against the Nashville Predators.

For the rest of the 2008–09 season, Filatov split time between the AHL and the NHL.

He played eight games with the Blue Jackets, finishing the season with four goals.

During the 2009–10 season, Filatov was unhappy with his situation in Columbus and was loaned to CSKA Moscow for the remainder of the season.

He became the first Blue Jackets rookie to record a hat-trick in the January 10, 2009, game against the Minnesota Wild.

At the end of the season, Filatov had played 39 games with the Crunch in the AHL, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists.

For his performances, he was named as a starter for the PlanetUSA team in the 2009 AHL All-Star Game.

At the start of the 2009–10 season, Filatov made the Blue Jackets roster after training camp.

At the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the Blue Jackets then traded him to Ottawa in exchange for a third-round draft pick.

In December 2011, the Senators loaned Filatov to CSKA Moscow for the balance of the 2011–12 season.

The following season, Filatov signed with Salavat Yulaev.

The Senators chose not to tender Filatov a qualifying offer, making him a free agent.

Filatov has represented Russia in international hockey at two World U18 Championships, winning gold and silver medals, and three World Junior Championships, where he has won two bronze medals.

Prior to 2012, Filatov played in North America for the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL).