NHL Draft top prospect Miroshnichenko diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma

Ivan Miroshnichenko, one of the top prospects for the 2022 NHL Draft, has been diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma. Sources tell Daily Faceoff Miroshnichenko’s agent shared this news with NHL teams this week.

According to Avangard Omsk, the KHL team Miroshnichenko is under contract with, he is currently undergoing treatment in Germany and the club will be handling all his medical costs. The team also says Miroshnichenko could miss all next season. Sources have indicated, however, the prognosis for a full recovery is good.

Miroshnichenko is the second prominent Russian prospect to be delivered a serious medical diagnosis in recent weeks. The Toronto Maple Leafs announced last week that first-round draft pick Rodion Amirov had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Like Miroshnichenko, Amirov is currently undergoing treatment in Germany.

Miroshnichenko had been playing for Omskie Krylia, Omsk’s second-division team in the VHL, but had not seen game action since late January. That had initially sparked some concerns about the 18-year-old’s health in recent weeks in NHL circles.

Miroshnichenko had also participated in Russia’s pre-World Junior Championship camp in early December but was cut, with the team citing he had not yet fully recovered his conditioning from a bout with COVID-19 earlier in the season.

Perhaps there is now a better explanation as to why the national team was concerned about his conditioning with his current diagnosis. According to multiple sources, the prognosis is that he is dealing with one of the most common and curable forms of Hodgkins lymphoma. It will, however, require Miroshnichenko to spend significant time away from the game.

The hockey world first became abundantly familiar with Hodgkin’s lymphoma when Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with it in 1993. He remarkably returned post-radiation treatment during the 1992-93 season and won the Hart and Art Ross Trophies.

Lemieux was able to resume his career and was still among the greatest players the game has ever seen after the fact. Hopefully that serves as some inspiration for young Miroshnichenko, who has really been through the ringer in his early career already.

Two years ago, Miroshnichenko signed a tender with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL and had planned to follow the same path as Carolina Hurricanes prospect Andrei Svechnikov, who also played for Muskegon. However, Miroshnichenko’s visa was surprisingly denied by the U.S. government, which forced him to stay in Russia.

With his path to North America blocked, he signed with Avangard Omsk and played for their U20 team in the MHL in 2020-21. He signed an extension with the club last February that would keep him under contract until 2023-24.

I had Miroshnichenko ranked No. 3 overall on my mid-term draft rankings. He is a skilled, powerful player that has some explosiveness. On top of that, he has crafty puck skills and a devastating shot that has allowed him to be a good goal scorer even when playing with and against men in the VHL.

Miroshnichenko’s rise to stardom has come largely through his exploits on the international stage. He finished second to phenom Matvei Michkov with 12 points in just four games at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games where Russia won gold. At the World U18 Championship last spring, Miroshnichenko had six goals and eight points as he helped Russia to the silver medal. He then captained Russia to winning the Hlinka Gretzky Cup with nine points in five games.

In 31 games this season with Omskie Krylia, Miroshnichenko had 16 points including 10 goals. He was the top U18 scorer in the league by a significant margin as one of only 13 U18 skaters that have appeared in games in the second-division league.

The first and foremost concern of all in hockey right now is Miroshnichenko’s health. NHL scouts I spoke with are still trying to wrap their heads around the news. While Miroshnichenko’s focus should be entirely on his well-being, NHL teams will have to continue planning and preparing for their future. They will continue to monitor this situation very closely as they determine how to handle the decisions on drafting the young Russian forward.

All of this is going on while NHL staffs are still also trying to figure out how best to handle Russian prospects in general amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and international efforts to isolate Russia. While Miroshnichenko’s own draft status may significantly drop on teams’ draft boards, a player with his skillset and chances of making a full recovery will almost certainly still be selected. It’s just unclear how early at this point and whether more information on his prognosis and path to recovery will become available before July.