Prospect Update: Artyom Galimov

By Thomas Harrington

Anaheim selected forward Artyom Galimov in the fifth round pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, 129th overall. He completed his fifth season in the KHL, all of them with Ak Bars Kazan.

Galimov played in 51 games and scored five goals and 11 points. He finished the season tied for 14th in goals on the team, and tied for 18th in points on the team. His goal and point totals fell by two from the previous season, but he also played in 12 fewer games. His points per game was actually up when compared to the previous season. He only played in two of Ak Bars’ five playoff games and was scoreless in them. Ak Bars lost in five games to Avtomobilist.

I had three expectations for Galimov last summer, and he was able to partially hit one of them. First, I wanted him to match what he did in the KHL as a rookie, when he scored 23 points, but he fell short of that by 12 points. Second, I wanted him to help Ak Bars improve its penalty kill. Ak Bars’ penalty kill finished 10th in the 2022-2023 season, but it climbed to sixth in the league this past season. However, Galimov’s average penalty kill time fell from 53 seconds per game to 26 seconds per game. So while the team’s penalty kill unit did improve, his overall shorthanded time dropped, so he gets partial credit for this one. Finally, I wanted him to have a better showing in the playoffs. He had four points in 24 playoff games the year before and I was hoping for more, but instead he was scoreless in two games and a healthy scratch for the final three games of the postseason.

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Back in November, Galimov signed an extension that will keep him in Russia through the 2024-2025 season. This will be the sixth straight season where he’s a full time member of Ak Bars Kazan. Unfortunately, his offense has dropped in almost every season that he’s been with them. The exception to that came in the 2021-2022 season, where he increased his point totals from 16 to 22.

Given his offensive struggles, my expectations for Galimov for this coming season will be very simple: have a better offensive year than he has these past two seasons. He’s played in 114 games and scored 12 goals and 24 points in that time. He doesn’t need to score 20+ points, but he needs to record more than 13 points.

At this point, it feels unlikely that Galimov will ever come to North America, but there’s always a chance. He has yet to sign an NHL deal with the Ducks and will be considered an Anaheim prospect until he turns 26. At that point, the Ducks will still hold his rights, but he would no longer be considered a rookie if he came to the NHL. The NHL and KHL currently do not have a transfer agreement, and as a result, NHL rights for prospects chosen from the KHL don’t expire the way they do for players chosen from the NCAA, CHL, and other European leagues. If Galimov does decide to leave the KHL and come to North America, he’ll be signed to a standard entry-level contract. Given his age, he’ll only be eligible to sign a one-year deal.

The next prospect update will be on forward Michael Callow.

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September 3rd, 2024