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The Nashville Predators Sergei Kostitsyn enjoyed a brief career in the NHL playing what was filled with some turmoil for the Montreal Canadiens and the Nashville Predators alongside his brother Andrei.
Sergei Kostitsyn was drafted 200th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft to the Montreal Canadiens who held the rights to his older brother Andrei Kostitsyn. Just like his older brother, Sergei shined in the Belarusian junior hockey program which helped him land in North America playing for the London Knights in the OHL at just 19 years old.
Sergei began his rookie campaign in 2005-06 playing with the Knights by leading all OHL rookies with 26 goals, 52 assists and 78 points. He also finished as a runner-up that year in the Emms Family Award, OHL Rookie of the Year, race to Logan Couture and John Tavares. Sergei was the heart and soul of the Knights playoff run in 2006. During his first ever OHL playoff game, Sergei tallied six points (1g,5a) in a 6-1 London win. Not only was he named the team rookie of the year, he was also named the playoff performer of the year by finishing with 37 points in 19 games.
Sergei played the 2006-07 season with London before moving on the next season to the Canadiens AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Even though Sergei had been lighting the lamp constantly in the OHL, the next three seasons were filled with a lot of agony and frustration for the young Belarus winger. Kostitsyn was not able to grab a guaranteed spot on the Canadiens roster and was sent down to the AHL and called back up to the NHL on multiple occasions. It got to the point that Sergei was suspended on two occasions by the Habs for not reporting to Hamilton and even asked to be traded.
Through all of the suspensions, Sergei was effectively cut from the Habs when Jacques Martin told the player to stay off of the ice for the morning practice on May 7th, 2010.
Even though he was kicked off of the team, Montreal still controlled the rights to Sergei Kostitsyn. On June 29, 2010, the Montreal Canadiens traded Sergei to the Nashville Predators for Dan Ellis, and Dustin Boyd.
Sergei time in Nashville was almost a mirror image of what previously happened in Montreal. Kostitsyn came into Nashville lighting the lamp and became a force to be reckoned with. Just when it felt like he was turning his career around, Sergei found a way to bring drama back into his career and the locker room.
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At the time while he was in Nashville, the Predators had never made it past the second round of the NHL playoffs. Nashville finally won in the first round of the 2011 playoffs against the Anaheim Ducks with Sergei struggling the entire postseason. The following season, the Predators front office thought it would be a brilliant idea to bring Sergei’s brother Andrei and former Predator
onto the team.
That story did not last long. Sergei became lazy on the ice which would cost Nashville late in games while Andrei and Alexander found themselves suspended in the playoffs which led Nashville to be sent packing in the second round against the Arizona Coyotes.
In 2013, the Predators and both Kostitsyn brothers agreed to a mutual termination of their contracts which sent both brothers back to the KHL.
Sergei Kostitsyn finished his NHL career with 353 games played, 67 goals, 109 assists, 176 points and 188 penalty mins.
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