Brooklyn native Nesterenko seeks to sharpen skills with BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs

Nikita Nesterenko has de-committed from Brown. (Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Nikita Nesterenko was watching the 2019 National Hockey League draft on television at home in Brooklyn, N.Y., when his dad, Mikhail, stood up, screamed and gave him a hug.

Looking at his phone, Nikita didn’t see what his father saw on the television screen — the Minnesota Wild had selected the 6-foot-1, 165-pound center with the 172^nd overall pick.

One tight embrace later, he was well aware.

“All of us were freaking out,” remembered Nikita, who was joined that day by not only his dad, but also his mom, Tanya, and his brother and sister, Matthew and Anastasia. “It was a cool experience.”

Nesterenko, who’s set to start his first season with the British Columbia Hockey League’s Chilliwack Chiefs after primarily playing the past three years at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, was surprised the Wild was the organization that chose him.

“I had some teams in mind, and the Wild didn’t talk to me much,” said Nesterenko, who turns 18 years old on Sept. 10. “They talked to my advisor a few times and came to a few of my games, but I never thought they were going to draft me.”

The exciting day didn’t end with the news of his selection. That night, the club called him and delivered an urgent message.

“They said, ‘We will send you all of your flight information; you’re flying out tomorrow morning for development camp,’ ” Nesterenko recalled. “So, I had to pack really quickly. It was a pretty quick turn of events.”

Once in Minnesota, Nesterenko was awed by what he was experiencing.

“I went there, met new people, saw the organization, saw their facilities and their new practice facility with their cooks,” he said. “They have a bunch of vending machines with Gatorade. It was a cool environment. Then on the ice, the players — guys from the American Hockey League, junior, college — were trying to develop and make the team. It was an eye-opener.”

It also was another step in Nesterenko’s rising hockey career, which started when he was brought to Abe Stark Rink in Coney Island as a 4-year-old. After initially struggling to keep his balance on the ice, he began to get the hang of skating and fell in love with it.

Even better, everything was going according to plan, at least in Mikhail’s eyes. After immigrating with Tanya to the United States from Russia in the 1990s, Mikhail was hoping his son adored hockey as much as he did.

“My dad got me into it because he always wanted to play, but his mom never let him,” said Nikita, who’s fluent in Russian and speaks the language at home even though he was born and raised in New York City’s most populous borough.

However, at Mikhail’s behest, Nikita had to wait until age 5 before he was allowed to grip a hockey stick. In the meantime, he practiced a different ice sport.

“I figure skated,” Nikita revealed. “A lot of guys do figure skating to get their technique down. My dad knew it was important, and it helped me.”

Soon enough, Nikita was ready to play hockey, and then play it competitively. The left-handed shooter’s youth stops included the Mid Fairfield Junior Rangers, New Jersey Colonials, Connecticut Oil Kings and Connecticut Oilers. After that, he played at Lawrenceville, while also suiting up for the Mercer Chiefs and New Jersey Junior Titans.

Skating for a different team every few years was a test for Nesterenko because it meant constantly having to get acclimated to a different club with new teammates. It was even more challenging for him because he’s more comfortable in one-on-one interactions than in larger social gatherings. But Nesterenko wouldn’t have it any other way.

“A lot of people might think it’s a bad thing and that you might want to stay with the same group of guys and be comfortable, but going to different teams was a benefit for me,” Nesterenko said. “It’s hard at the start, getting adjusted and getting to know everyone, but after practicing it over and over you get better at it. You never know, you might get drafted or traded, so you can never get too comfortable. You always have to adjust, and going through that helped me.”

Whenever he joins a new organization, his teammates always ask him the same questions.

“My name is not American, it’s very Russian, so a lot of people ask me my background,” Nesterenko chuckled. “They ask me how I got into hockey since I’m from Brooklyn, where almost no one plays it. And another question they ask me is if I’m related to Eric Nesterenko (former NHL right wing who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1951-56 and Chicago Black Hawks from 1956-72). And I’m not.”

While Nikita doesn’t share a family tree with Eric, what they do have in common is a nose for the net.

In Nikita’s case, this was on full display during his three campaigns at Lawrenceville, where he totaled 93 points (41-52-93) in 86 games, including 59 points (30-29-59) in 31 contests last season.

“What stands out to me about Nikita is that he trusted what he was doing personally; he trusted our vision for the program and where we wanted to move it; and he understood that he was going to be a big part of that,” Lawrenceville boys varsity ice hockey coach Keith Dupee said. “He came into school as a 5-foot-4, 100-pound kid who had all the skill in the world. He put in a lot of hard work on his own, his family supported him tremendously, and then we did everything we could on this end to support him as a player, as a student and as a kid.

“He really trusted what we are doing here, trusted the teammates he had and understood that if he did what he had to do — continue to work and get better — he could achieve the things he wanted to achieve. That’s getting harder and harder nowadays, and it was important for our program, important for him and important for his family to see that trust in the process. That’s what I’m most proud of when it comes to Nikita. He scored big goals, created great friendships and did well academically, but he also trusted the whole product that Lawrenceville has, stuck to it as long as he could and moved on when it was appropriate.”

Ironically, Lawrenceville wasn’t even on the radar when Nesterenko first thought about going to prep school.

“I really wanted to go to prep school, and my dad and I were new to the process,” he said. “We were looking at a bunch of schools in New England. I had no idea about Lawrenceville. After the application process, Lawrenceville watched one of my games when I played for the Oilers, and they really liked me.”

Nesterenko ultimately chose the Garden State school because of its proximity to home, his affinity for the coaching staff and because he would receive a quality education.

“We thought it would be a good development spot, and my parents are huge on education,” he stated. “It was the best of both worlds.”

On the ice, Nesterenko appreciated the way the coaching staff helped him become a hard-working, all-situation player.

“The coaches liked my skill and my creativeness, but they drilled in me work ethic and defensive-zone play, which is one thing that I needed to work on,” he said. “They also taught me how to be a pro off the ice, which I also needed to learn.”

While Nesterenko’s defense has improved each year, he still has a lot more room to grow.

“At the prep level, Nikita is a point producer,” Dupee explained. “I was fortunate enough to play for a lot of good coaches in my career, and they basically said, ‘If you give up a goal, you better get a goal.’ And Nikita was a plus player. He understood the responsibilities and understood that offense is generated from the defensive zone. Transition hockey, from defensive zone to neutral zone, neutral zone to offensive zone, is where you build your offense. One thing I harped on with him a lot — because he played center and I would think he projects out as a winger at the next level — is being underneath the puck. When he is underneath the puck and comes with speed and gets it from his wingers, he can use his speed and his smarts to really create that transition offense. He has a long way to go in that — and I would tell him that — but he definitely made some strides. He played in all situations for us just because his IQ is so good. He understands the game so well. Continuing to start offense from the D zone is just another part of his maturation, and that’s what will benefit him as he continues to move on.”

With that in mind, Nesterenko made the decision to play a junior season with Chilliwack, where he’s hoping to continue to enhance his skills.

“It’s definitely a different level of hockey compared to prep school,” he said. “In my first preseason game, against the Surrey Eagles, it was super fast with hitting. You definitely have to wake up, always have your head up and skate fast. But this is what’s going to get you to the next level.”

Noted Dupee: “The BCHL is the right league for Nikita in the sense that it will allow him to play to his strengths — which is using his skills and his IQ to create space, to slow down the play, to speed up the play, to really be that playmaker — while also understanding that he has room to grow on the defensive side of the puck.”

Chiefs head coach and general manager Brian Maloney isn’t going to “throw too many expectations” on Nesterenko at the outset. Instead, he’s going to push him to become stronger and an even better player in all three zones.

“Offensively, Nikita’s dynamic, and he will be a dynamic player,” Maloney said. “I’m sure he’s been allowed to claim a role offensively and be creative offensively, and we aren’t going to take that away from him. But we are going to challenge him to improve his defensive side of the puck and improve his strength. He has the height; now we have to fill him out a little bit. If we can get him to defend and compete in all aspects of his shift, he’s going to be a heck of a player.”

Added Nesterenko: “Coach and I have talked about my defensive work a lot. And that starts in the gym. We have a great off-ice training staff here, and they are working with me to get my weight up and get my eating habits right. My conditioning is a big thing, too, and I’m working on that with them. Working with Coach Maloney and all of the trainers, my defensive-zone play will definitely improve as the year goes on.”

If all goes as expected, Nesterenko will bring his upgraded play back east next season when he skates for Brown University.

“It’s an Ivy League school, so I’ll get a good education,” he said. “It seems like a really tight community. I also love the coaches there; they know what they are talking about and love me as a player. And their program is going in the right direction.”

The Bears aren’t the only ones going in the right direction. So is Nesterenko, Brooklyn’s hockey ace with the Russian name.