Trikozov is skating in his sophomore AHL season for the Chicago Wolves, and in his first seven games has one goal and one assist. His pace is quite similar to that of the late-season cup of coffee he saw last year with a 20 game audition for the Wolves.

Trikozov could earn himself middle-six minutes at the NHL level if his development goes as planned, but with the time in the AHL thus far (only 27 games across two seasons) he hasn’t shown what made him an intriguing prospect in the Russian Junior leagues.

Players with extended VHL time- Russia’s AHL essentially- that do not click in the KHL quickly after have historically not only not turned into fantasy relevant NHLers, but rarely stick around in the NHL. While it is far too early to heavily bet on Trikozov’s eventual fantasy value one way or the other, if he doesn’t start to show signs of life soon, the odds are in favour of moving on in most leagues without extensive depth.

Trikozov’s arrival to North America was highly anticipated by fantasy managers and Hurricanes fans alike. It would be expected that the debut disappointed many, as he finished the year with only 20 games played, and two goals and an assist in them. It’s not his fault that he missed as much time as he did due to injury, and transitional hiccups were expected after leaving Russia and acclimating to the AHL. Trikozov has a solid pedigree, and will only be 21 in the off-season. His perceived value is likely as low as it’s been in some time, and given a deep enough league to stash him and be patient, he’s worth kicking tires on to see how he bounces back in 2025-2026.

Gleb Trikozov has officially signed his entry level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. Trikozov, who ends his Russian career with 234 games played across the VHL, MHL and KHL, will play in North America next season. His production at the MHL level is extremely encouraging, producing 85 goals and 80 assists for 165 points in 156 games, which puts him tied for 17th all time in MHL history in front of players like Nikita Kucherov, Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko. Trikozov has always been a natural playmaker but really put his shot to use this season, as it was noticeably faster and improved compared to recent years. Trikozov projects to play in the AHL next season but could see NHL game time within the next year or two.