Alexei Mikhnov

Who is Alexei Mikhnov?

Oleksiy Pavlovych "Alexei" Mikhnov is a Ukrainian-Russian professional ice hockey left wing. He was selected in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 17th overall, by the Edmonton Oilers, and has only played in two NHL games, his first being a 5–2 win versus Phoenix. He was scoreless and even in 4:21 of ice time. His brother Andrei Mikhnov was at one time also a National Hockey League prospect and played in the Ontario Hockey League.

Mikhnov has spent four seasons in the Russian Super League, and is considered a power forward. Despite being from Ukraine, Mikhnov plays internationally for Russia.

After being drafted in 2000, Mikhnov has been something of a mystery to Oilers fans. Even when he was drafted, he was considered an enigma, and when he first hit Edmonton in 2004, the Oilers' front office discovered that Mikhnov had poor eyesight, leading to the team buying him a pair of glasses.

Mikhnov was one of the more famous players impacted by the inability of the National Hockey League and the Russian ice hockey federation to come to an agreement on a transfer arrangement, a situation which more famously affected Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Evgeni Malkin.