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Getting to know U-tah: defenseman Mihkail Sergachev
Through training camp, ALLCITY Network will publish profiles of players and staff on the Utah Hockey Club’s hockey operations side to help Utah fans get to know their new team before the first puck drop on Oct. 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks at Delta Center.
Mikhail Sergachev
Position: Defenseman
Height/weight: 6-3, 211
Shoots: Left
Age: 26
2023-24 stats: 34 games, 2 goals, 19 points
Career stats: 475 games, 48 goals, 257 points
Contract status: Signed through 2030-31 season (AAV $8.5 million)
Agent: Dan Milstein
Spouse: Elizaveta (Liza)
When the Utah Hockey Club engineered a trade for Tampa defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on the second day of the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas, opinions were all over the map.
Many pundits lauded the addition to a blue line in dire need of top-pair talent. Others thought GM Bill Armstrong overpaid by sending top center prospect Conor Geekie, top-four defenseman JJ Moser and draft capital to the Lightning.
At the core of the trade was the belief or disbelief that Sergachev was ready to assume the demanding and critical role of a No. 1 defenseman. His ability to do so will define his career. It will also define Armstrong’s tenure as he moves out of the draft-capital-acquisition phase of the rebuild and into the trying-to-win phase. This is the GM’s biggest trade acquisition by far, and it will play a major role in determining the ceiling for a Utah club stacked with young defensemen and talented blue line prospects.
“You’ve got to give a little bit to get something so I’m alright with that process,” Armstrong said. “We had an understanding that we needed a building block. Sergachev is a building block for us.”
Armstrong and the pro and amateur scouting staffs are certain that Sergachev can fill the No. 1 role. More importantly, so is Sergachev.
“I think I’ve been ready for the last couple years,” he said. “I just wasn’t given a chance to play that role before.
“When you’re playing with Victor Hedman, even at his worst, he’s still one of the best defensemen in the league, so it was pretty tough to move him around. But one year, I played half a season on the first power play and it showed in my point total, and in my game.”
(Getty Images)
That one season came in 2022-23 when Sergachev posted career highs in goals (10), assists (54) and points (64) to finish 10th among NHL defensemen in points.
“When you’re getting carte blanche — when you’re just playing and not thinking — everything clicks,” he said of that season in which he had 27 power-play points. “You play by your instincts and you just enjoy the game. That’s what was happening. There was no stress. They just gave me a chance on the first power play, it clicked, and I just kept on going.”
Unfortunately for Sergachev, he was back in his understudy role last season while Hedman reclaimed his throne.
“They put Heddy there right away,” Sergachev said. “It gets to the point where you’re thinking that you’re wasting your time with a big contract and you’re playing a second role again. It was obviously tough for me, but from the team perspective, when you have Victor Hedman in the lineup, how can you not play him there? It was a tough decision for the coach and management.”
Compounding the challenge for Sergachev were a pair of injuries including a fractured tibia and fibula in his left leg on Feb. 7. That injury sidelined him until the postseason, limiting him to 34 regular season games.
Sergachev could have adopted a when-it-rains-it-pours attitude, but he worked diligently in rehab and returned for the Lightning’s first-round series against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
“I don’t think in those negative terms,” he said of his bad luck last season. “I came back after like two and a half months because I was determined to do that for the team. I was supposed to come back for the first game but there was a little bit of a setback at one practice that set me back for a week. When they told me I was ready, I did all the testing, single leg jumps and stuff like that. I felt confident, I got on the ice and we won the game.
“I mean, it was a playoff game against the Florida Panthers and we have a beef with them (laughs). I’m not gonna lie. I wasn’t 100 percent, but I felt good enough to play.”
This summer didn’t mark the first trade in Sergachev’s career. The Canadiens traded him to Tampa for forward Jonathan Drouin 11 months after drafting him ninth overall.
When he arrived in Tampa, he took immediate strides in his rookie season, totaling nine goals and 40 points.
“He was the most improved player on the team from the start to the end of that season,” said former Tampa assistant coach Rick Bowness, who retired this past summer after two seasons coaching the Winnipeg Jets. “He’s a great teammate. He works hard. He’s a really good person. The players love playing with him and on top of that, he’s just a really, really good player.
“He has improved his defensive play. He’s very strong and competitive, and he was a great pickup by Utah.”
Most offensive defensemen face a learning curve in the NHL when it comes to defensive details, but Bowness saw rapid progression from Sergachev in that area.
“His reads improved to where he wasn’t chasing the game as much,” Bowness said. “He learned when to jump up and when not to jump up. He just learned how to play the position and it’s a process, but he has always had those offensive abilities.
“He’s so strong on his feet and he’s got a great shot just standing still. A lot of guys have to skate into it, but he can stand still and snap it hard. He’s just got a complete skill set. He has great hands, good vision — he’s the total package for me.”
Bowness knows how tough it was to play behind Hedman all those years, but he never doubted that Sergachev was progressing to the point where he was ready to be the guy.
“He played behind Victor, but that doesn’t mean he was sheltered,” Bowness said. “Victor’s in a whole other league. He’s a Norris Trophy winner. He’s incredible, but Sergie earned his ice. He was a great backup to Victor through those years and now he gets his chance.”
That is precisely the message that Armstrong and his staff delivered.
“He’s always been behind Hedman,” Armstrong said. “Now he’s got a chance to walk in the door and be the one or two, and be the big man on campus. Obviously, he’s got to prove that with his play, but he’s got that opportunity in front of him.”
That, said Sergachev, is his sole focus.
“I learned a lot from Victor,” he said. “I learned his stability on the back end, his day-to-day routine, how he treats everyone around him, how he’s always happy, how there’s no bad day in the NHL for him.
“I’ve gotten traded and maybe some other people would be upset. Obviously, it was a shock at first. When you’re getting signed for eight years, you don’t expect to be traded after one year, and then two days before the no-trade clause kicks in, but at the same time, like my wife said, ‘It’s a great opportunity for me to go and be a leader on a team and maybe be a number one guy.’
“I’m very happy right now. I get to play in the NHL on a new franchise that’s very hungry for hockey.”
Related Sergachev links
Up close with Mikhail Sergachev: Lightning D on his next step, from fatherhood to becoming a No. 1 (paywall)
‘Walk the walk’: How Lightning unlocked potential in Canadiens first-rounder Mikhail Sergachev (paywall)
How Bolts’ Sergachev mentally overcame traumatic leg injury
In addition to ALLCITY Network’s written Utah Hockey Club coverage, we will launch the All Utah Hockey Podcast on Sept. 4. Longtime Coyotes video coach Steve Peters and I will be the principal hosts of the show, with Leah Merrall joining from time to time. The first podcast will air at 5 PM Utah time with GM Bill Armstrong joining us as a guest. Stay tuned for more information.
Top photo of Mikhail Sergachev via Getty Images
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