Vladislav Kamenev

Kamenev played as a youth and later made his Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) debut playing with Metallurg Magnitogorsk during the 2013–14 KHL season.[1] He was selected by the Nashville Predators in the second round, 42nd overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

At the conclusion of his first full KHL season in 2014–15 with Magnitogorsk, Kamenev opted to pursue his NHL ambitions, in agreeing to a three-year entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators on 10 July 2015.[2]

In the 2016–17 season, Kamenev made his NHL debut on 6 January 2017, against the Florida Panthers, after being recalled by the Predators from the Milwaukee Admirals.[3] During an interview, Kamenev recalled to be at the Florida airport just about an hour before the 2017 Fort Lauderdale airport shooting, as he was travelling to reach the team after playing a game in California with the Admirals.[4] He appeared in 2 scoreless games with the Predators before he was returned to play out the remainder of the campaign with the Admirals, collecting 21 goals and 51 points in 70 games.

He was assigned to continue in his third season with the Milwaukee Admirals to start the 2017–18 season. Kamenev increased his scoring pace with 8 points in 10 games with the Admirals before he was dealt by the Predators, alongside Samuel Girard and a 2018 second round pick, in a three-team trade to the Colorado Avalanche, including Matt Duchene and Kyle Turris from the Ottawa Senators on 5 November 2017.[5]

With the Avalanche embarking on a Global Series in Sweden, he was to continue in the AHL with affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage.[6] He compiled 4 assists in as many games with the Rampage before he was recalled to Colorado on 14 November 2017.[7] On 16 November 2017, Kamenev made his Avalanche debut against the Washington Capitals, centering a line between Sven Andrighetto and Nail Yakupov. During the second period of an eventual 6–2 victory for the Avalanche, Kamenev left the game as a result of a neutral zone check from Capitals veteran defenseman, Brooks Orpik. He was later diagnosed with a broken forearm and placed indefinitely on the injury reserve list.[8] Kamenev missed 50 games before he returned to health and was sent on a conditioning assignment to the San Antonio Rampage on 10 March 2018. He later returned to the Avalanche and appeared in two further regular season games. He remained on the Avalanche playoff roster however did not feature in their first-round defeat to his former club the Nashville Predators.

During his first pre-season with the Avalanche, Kamenev ended training camp on the injured reserve, before he was reassigned to begin the 2018–19 season with new AHL affiliate the Colorado Eagles. He appeared in 2 games before he was recalled by the Avalanche on 8 October 2018. Kamenev recorded his first NHL point on an assist on a Mark Barberio goal in a 3–2 defeat to the Minnesota Wild on 27 October 2018.[9] Kamenev soon notched his first career NHL goal on 1 November 2018 in a 6–5 loss to the Calgary Flames. Fellow rookie Sheldon Dries also scored his first NHL goal that game, making the pair the first Avalanche rookies to score their first NHL goals in the same game since 27 January 1995.[10] His shorthanded goal was also the first tallied by the Avalanche rookie since Greg Mauldin in 2010. In a bottom six role, Kamenev showed promise within his role with the Avalanche, posting 5 points in 23 games before his season was again thwarted by injury, suffering a season ending shoulder injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning on 8 December 2018.[11]

On 30 July 2019, Kamenev was re-signed by the Avalanche to a one-year contract extension.[12] Approaching his third season within the Avalanche, Kamenev now waiver eligible made the club's opening night roster for the 2019–20 season. With the Avalanche adding significant forward depth in the off-season, Kamenev began the season as a healthy scratch. In a limited fourth-line role, he tallied 1 goal and 8 points in 38 games with the Avalanche before the regular season was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kamenev was later named in the Avalanche's Return to Play training camp roster, however having earlier contracted coronavirus following the cancellation of the regular season and then followed by the removal of his appendix, he was left of the Avalanche playoff roster due to concerns he would not withstand the post-season pace.[13]

As a restricted free agent with the Avalanche, Kamenev's KHL rights were traded by Metallurg Magnitogorsk to SKA Saint Petersburg in exchange for Nikolai Prokhorkin on 11 June 2020.[14] With ambitions to play on the Russian Olympic team in 2022, Kamenev in search of a larger role agreed to return to the KHL by signing a two-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg on 1 September 2020.[15][16]