After winning Division 1A last year for their World Juniors, Kazakhstan was promoted to the top group this year and will be playing in Group B. Predicting Team Kazakhstan’s World Junior roster is just as challenging as any other team for the World Juniors, and while this prediction aims to be as accurate as possible, there are still a lot of players who may get their calling before players that I have listed.
Goaltenders
Choosing 3 goaltenders for Kazakhstan, I fully believe the easiest choice here is Vladimir Nikitin. He was the starter in the WJC-20 D1A, and will likely be starting for them again this time around. An Ottawa Senators draftee in 2023, Nikitin offers experience of playing in the BCHL, World Juniors, and the MHL in Russia. Nikitin should be one of the standouts on this Kazakhstan team.
The other two goaltenders behind him should be Vladimir Istomin and Danai Shaiikov.
Istomin has experience playing for the Kazakhstan U18 team internationally and has looked good in the MHL this season. Danai Shaiikov is a 2007-born, 2025 Draft-eligible goaltender who has been playing U18 hockey in Russia.
Defence
Kazakhstan is lucky to bring so much experience to their World Junior roster this year, as they will likely be bringing back 4 defenders from last year to this tournament; two of the most notable being Beibarys Orazov and Mstislav Shipilin. Orazov had 4 points in 5 games at last year’s tournament and brings 27 games of KHL experience to the team. Shipilin is a 2006-born defender who also played for Kazakhstan’s WJC-18 team last year in the top division, contributing 4 points in 5 games as well. Shipilin will look to continue that international success on the big stage this year.
Other defenders who are likely to get the call are Gleb Reshetko, Danial Shakshakbayev, Aslan Zhusupbekov (who brings some international and North American experience as well), big man Roman Bolshedvorsky, and the young Ivan Mullerov – who won’t be eligible for the NHL Draft until 2026.
Forwards
As mentioned previously, Kazakhstan’s advantage this year – in the top division – is the amount of returning players that they can bring back. This team has already found success, winning the D1A championship, but now they can bring 9 forwards from that winning team to Ottawa this year.
Most notably, they can bring back Davlat Nurkenov, who plays in Finland and has been a PPG+ player on the biggest global stages. Most recently, Nurkenov notched 6 points in 5 games at last year’s D1A World Juniors. There are also players who were nearly point-per-gamers last year in Adil Beisembayev, Alexander Kim (who also has North American experience with the Bismarck Bobcats in the NAHL), and Kirill Lyapunov – who has been clicking at over a PPG in the MHL.
Then we have the rest of last year’s crowd as well, Artur Gross, Alexander Migunov, Asanali Ruslanuly, Nikita Sitnikov, and Semyon Simonov – who brings 7 games of KHL experience this year and should help Team Kazakhstan with finding goals this year.
The newcomers I believe will be added to this roster include Abzal Alibek, who plays in the NAHL and captained Team Kazakhstan in the top-division U18s last year and Asanali Sarkenov of the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL, who was a goal-per-game player in the U18s and has 11 points in 16 WHL games to date. The last two players I have cracking the roster are Semyon Cherkasov and Kornei Korneyev – who plays with Chicoutimi in the QMJHL and isn’t eligible until the 2026 NHL Draft as well.
Conclusion
Goalies – Vladimir Nikitin, Vladimir Istomin, Danai Shaiikov
Defence – Beibarys Orazov, Mstislav Shipilin, Danial Shakshakbayev, Gleb Reshetko, Aslan Zhusupbekov, Ivan Mullerov, Roman Bolshedvorsky
Forwards – Asanali Ruslanuly, Nikita Sitnikov, Alexander Kim, Abzal Alibek, Adil Beisembayev, Artur Gross, Davlat Nurkenov, Asanali Sarkenov, Semyon Cherkasov, Semyon Simonov, Kirill Lyapunov, Alexander Migunov, Kornei Korneyev
Thoughts
I actually believe Kazakhstan may be underestimated this year. I think the amount of experience that their players have will be an advantage, and it doesn’t hurt that the newcomers are going to be players who have their own skill sets. Many of them with North American experience, or are tearing it up in top-tier junior leagues like the QMJHL, WHL, and MHL. This team should add good competition to Group B this year, especially against Switzerland and Slovakia.
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