Nikolay Zherdev

Due to complications with organizing a team for his age group, he was pushed to play a year ahead with the 1983 born players; a group which included fellow future Ukrainian NHLer Anton Babchuk.

Mykola Olehovych "Nikolay" Zherdev (Микола Олегович Жердев; born November 5, 1984) is a Ukrainian-Russian professional ice hockey right winger who is currently playing for the Alleghe Hockey of the Italian Hockey League.

He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Zherdev began playing hockey at the age of four.

He began his training with the Sokil Kyiv junior hockey affiliate.

Zherdev played in the 1998 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with his youth team from Kyiv.

While playing in the tournament, Zherdev's team found itself competing against a team from Elektrostal, Russia.

The rival team's coach, Ravil Iskhakov, took note of both Zherdev and Babchuk, and invited the pair to further their development with the Elemash Elektrostal hockey club of the Russian Major League, to which they accepted together.

The desire to play at a higher level came at a price: his nationality.

In order to play in Russia, he would be forced to apply for Russian citizenship.

As his game progressed and professional teams began to take notice, Elektrostal received offers from the likes of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Ak Bars Kazan, and CSKA Moscow for Zherdev's services.

He would accept an invitation for Elektrostal to loan him to the latter team, CSKA, citing a desire to train under esteemed coach Viktor Tikhonov.

Zherdev spent the entire 2002–03 season with CSKA.

He left for the NHL halfway through the 2003–04 season.

Zherdev was drafted by Columbus in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft with the fourth overall pick.

At the time, Columbus general manager Doug MacLean stated that the team had Zherdev ranked number one on their draft list.

He would, however, return to the Russian club during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

The 2005–06 NHL season was a breakout year for Zherdev, who scored 27 goals and notched 27 assists in 73 games.

He was the Blue Jackets' most potent offensive threat while Rick Nash recuperated from injury, and played most of the season on the team's first line.

Contract negotiations with Blue Jackets management following the 2005–06 season became acrimonious.

Zherdev threatened to remain in Russia for the season unless his demands were met, while Columbus insisted that Zherdev's salary demands were not commensurate with his accomplishments.

The 2006–07 NHL season was a low point for Zherdev, as he struggled to score consistently and frequently clashed with the Jackets' coaching staff, leading to repeated rumors that he might be traded before the 2007–08 NHL season began.

In response, Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson and then-coach Ken Hitchcock met Zherdev in a "clean-the-slate" meeting.

Following the meeting, Zherdev rediscovered success on the ice.

On September 28, 2006, the parties finally agreed to a $7.5 million, three-year contract.

On July 2, 2008, Zherdev was traded by the Blue Jackets along with Dan Fritsche to the New York Rangers for defencemen Fedor Tyutin and Christian Bäckman.

In his first season with the Rangers, Zherdev tied for the team lead in points with Scott Gomez, scoring 58 points.

As a restricted free agent, Zherdev was tendered a qualifying offer of $3.25 million by the Rangers before the start of the 2009 free agency period so the team could retain his rights as the two sides negotiate.

Zherdev was awarded $3.9 million (USD) in arbitration, however, the New York Rangers chose to let Zherdev go.

The aforementioned walkaway made Zherdev an unrestricted free agent.

Zherdev signed on September 15, 2009, a one-year contract for Atlant Moscow Oblast.

On July 9, 2010, Zherdev signed a one-year deal for $2 million with the Philadelphia Flyers, setting up his return to the NHL.

This NHL stint would last 56 games through one season as Zherdev did not garner the trust of Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette due to what the coach saw as lackadaisical effort and selfish play.

For the majority of the season, Zherdev received limited ice time while playing the fourth line with very offensively limited linemates and rarely saw any power play time.

Following the 2010–11 season, Zherdev returned to Atlant Moscow Oblast.

In the 2012–13, he was announced as the team Captain.

He played in 39 games registering an impressive 37 points before he was traded to Ak Bars Kazan on January 15, 2013, to complete the season.

After signing a one-year deal with HC Lev Praha in July 2013, Zherdev celebrated at the Barvikha Luxury Village hotel in Moscow where things turned violent, according to a Russian news report.

Despite the lack of opportunities, Zherdev would manage a productive 16 goals, which included his 100th NHL goal.

After the season the Flyers did not attempt to sign him to a contract extension.