NHL draft pick who left hockey for Instagram: 'I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone'
Luckily for Nikita Popugaev, this story appears to have a happy ending. The 23-year-old forward, a fourth round pick of the New Jersey Devils (98th overall) in 2017, is having a good season with Sochi of the KHL after taking all of last season off in a move that caught many off guard.
In September of 2021, Popugaev announced he was retiring from hockey to become a full-time social media influencer. . He took to his Instagram account and posted a video where he burned his equipment, along with his hockey bag, making it clear he was done with the sport. Fast forward to September of this year, and not playing at all last season, Popugaev was with Amur of the KHL on a tryout contract. He eventually signed with Sochi, where he has 8 goals and 3 assists in 25 games. He leads the team in scoring. In a new interview with Sport-Express.ru, Popugaev said he missed hockey immediately.
He also admitted that some maturing took place over the past year.
Popugaev also admitted that his family was very happy with his decision to return to hockey and says he enjoys the game even more now.
Popugaev didn't say whether he has any plans to come to North America again. From 2018 to 2020, he played with both the Binghamton Devils of the AHL, and the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL. He doesn't believe he's hit his peak yet, though.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||