Former 6th overall NHL draft pick accused of match-fixing in his home country
A bizarre story out of Russia Saturday involving a hockey player who was drafted sixth overall in 2008. Nikita Filatov was a highly-touted prospect taken in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Filtov fizzled quickly, managing just 53 games in the NHL before going back to Russia. Now, several reports out of that country state Filatov has been accused of aiding in match-fixing in the MHL and VHL, two developmental leagues in Russia.
According to the reports, a complaint has been filed with the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation by Emil Muzaffarov of Moscow.
"I don't know who this person is. I have nothing to do with match-fixing. The lawyer will deal with it further," said Filatov when asked for comment.
After going back to Russia, Filatov played with several KHL teams until he retired after 2018-19. Championat.com states Filatov is now an assistant to hockey agent Sergey Isakov. Isakov has represented names like Andrei Markov, Brendan Leipsic, and even Evgeni Malkin at one point.
With so few details available, it's impossible to say whether the complaint deals with Filatov's time as a player, as an assistant hockey agent, or both. Most of Filatov's time in the NHL was spent with the Blue Jackets. He also played nine games with the Ottawa Senators. He was in North America from 2008 to 2012, with the vast majority of his games being in the AHL during that time. Filatov apparently became upset with his ice time under Ken Hitchcock while in Columbus and requested to go home. After attempting to repair the relationship, Columbus eventually traded Filatov to Ottawa. After one season there, most of it spent in Binghamton, FIlatov went back to Russia permanently.
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