A look at the career of Sergei Shirokov since leaving the Vancouver Canucks organization.
Plenty of former Vancouver Canucks have carved out successful careers around the world after leaving the organization. Whether playing for some of the best teams in Europe or excelling in non-traditional hockey markets, these one-time Canucks continue to apply their trade outside of North America. Today, we look at Sergei Shirokov, who spent the 2023-24 season with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the KHL.
Drafted 163rd overall by Vancouver in 2006, Shirokov played two seasons with the organization, suiting up for eight NHL games and 152 AHL games from 2009-11. His time with Canucks, however, was short, as he was traded to the Florida Panthers in 2011 for Mike Duco. After being traded to Florida by Vancouver, Shirokov returned home to Russia, where he has played ever since.
Over the last 14 years, Shirokov has played for a handful of teams, including SKA St. Petersburg and CSKA Moskva. He has also won multiple Gold Medals, including one at the 2018 Winter Olympics as a member of the Olympic Athletes from Russia. Over his now 685-game career in the KHL, Shirokov has recorded 459 points and enters the 2024-25 season ranked seventh all-time in points.
After spending the last two seasons with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, where he played on the same team as former Canucks defenceman Nikita Tryamkin, Shirokov signed with Sibir Novosibirsk for the 2024-25 campaign. Last season, Sibir Novosibirsk finished the season with 20 wins and 67 points, ranking 18th in the KHL. Barring injury, Shirokov is set to become just one of ten players in KHL history to play 700+ games and, with a strong season, could become the seventh player in league history to surpass the 500-point mark.
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