View source for Nik Antropov

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| image = Nik Antropov Jets 2012-02-11.JPG 
| caption = Antropov with the [[Winnipeg Jets|Jets]] in [[2011-12 NHL season|2012]].
| image_size = 230px
| played_for = [[Dynamo Moscow]]<br>[[Toronto Maple Leafs]]<br>[[Ak Bars Kazan]]<br>[[Lokomotiv Yaroslavl]]<br>[[New York Rangers]]<br>[[Atlanta Thrashers]]<br>[[Winnipeg Jets]]<br>[[Barys Astana]]
| ntl_team = KAZ
| position = [[Centre (ice hockey)|Centre]]
| shoots = Left
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 6
| weight_lb = 245
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|2|18}}
| birth_place = [[Oskemen]], [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| draft = 10th overall
| draft_year = 1998
| draft_team = [[Toronto Maple Leafs]]
| career_start = 1996
| career_end = 2015
}}

'''Nikolai Alexandrovich Antropov''' ({{lang-ru|Николай Александрович Антропов}}; born February 18, 1980) is a [[Kazakh]]-[[Canadian]] former professional [[ice hockey]] [[forward (ice hockey)|centre]] who played in the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) with the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]], [[New York Rangers]], [[Atlanta Thrashers]] and [[Winnipeg Jets]]. He received Canadian citizenship in May 2007.<ref>{{cite web|work=Canada.com|title=Antropov still feels he doesn't belong|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/hockey/story.html?id=1a1c6c58-f6a1-489e-8e97-d54917b01ccd |date=September 17, 2007|accessdate=October 6, 2013}}</ref>

==Playing career==
Antropov was expected to be drafted early in the second round, but following a dominant season with [[Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk]] in the [[Vysshaya Liga (ice hockey)|second-tier]] of the [[Russian Superleague]] (RSL), including an international match against [[Iceland men's national ice hockey team|Iceland]], in which he scored 11 goals and 26 points, he was drafted tenth overall by the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] in the [[1998 NHL Entry Draft]].<ref name="Iceland">{{cite news|last=Ulmer|first=Michael|title=Leafs select one from afar: Toronto associate general manager Mike Smith says 18-year-old Kazakhstan native Nikolai Antropov has "world class" hands|work=Vancouver Sun|location=Vancouver|page=D. 2|date=1998-06-29}}</ref> Before going overseas to play hockey in [[North America]], Antropov also played in the RSL with [[HC Dynamo Moscow|Dynamo Moscow]].

When [[Owen Nolan]] joined the Maple Leafs in March 2003, Antropov changed his number from #11 (Nolan's number for the [[San Jose Sharks]]) to #80, the year of his birth. In [[2003–04 NHL season|2003–04]], Leaf coach [[Pat Quinn (ice hockey)|Pat Quinn]] formed a line with [[Joe Nieuwendyk]], [[Alexei Ponikarovsky]], and Antropov. This line was dubbed the "Skyline" because of the players' height. [[File:AntropovGoal.jpg|thumb|left|Antropov scores in the [[2009 Stanley Cup playoffs|2009 playoffs]] while a member of the [[New York Rangers]].]] During the [[2004–05 NHL lockout|NHL lock-out of the 2004–05 season]], he returned to the Russian league and played 36 games split between [[Ak Bars Kazan]] and [[Lokomotiv Yaroslavl]].  However, injuries felled the [[Power forward (ice hockey)|power forward]], and he missed significant time during the 2005–06 season. Antropov managed to produce 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points in 57 games.

Upon Antropov's return from injury, he added 15 points in the final ten regular-season games of the 2005–06 NHL season. Antropov finished third on the team in even-strength scoring and also led the Leafs in +/- with a +13 rating.  In 2006–07, Antropov typically played alongside team captain [[Mats Sundin]] and Ponikarovsky on the top line.  On June 6, 2007, the Maple Leafs announced they had signed Antropov to a two-year contract extension. During a game with the New York Rangers on 6 December 2007, Antropov scored his second career hat-trick and was named the game's first star. In December 2007, a campaign was launched to encourage fans to vote Antropov as a write-in Candidate the [[56th National Hockey League All-Star Game]] in [[Atlanta]].<ref>{{cite web|work=Oakley.com|title=Nik Antropov's biography|url=http://www.oakley.com/sports/hockey/athletes/406 |date=|accessdate=October 6, 2013}}</ref>

On February 9, 2008, Antropov set a new career high in goals with 19 when he scored in overtime to give the Leafs a 3–2 win, tipping in an [[Anton Strålman]] [[slapshot]] — he finished the season with 26 goals.  On March 4, 2009, Antropov was traded to the New York Rangers for a second round draft pick and conditional draft pick.<ref name="AntopovRangers">{{cite web | title = Rangers trade for Antropov, Morris | work = ESPN.com | date = March 4, 2009 | url = http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3952538 | accessdate = March 4, 2009}}</ref> During his tenure with the Leafs, he became a [[Canadian nationality law|Canadian citizen]]. He received Canadian citizenship in May 2007.<ref>{{cite web|work=FaceOff.com|author=Joe O’Connor,|title=Mixed emotions for N.Y.-bound Antropov|url=http://www.faceoff.com/hockey/tradedeadline2009/story.html?id=1353375 |date=March 4, 2009|accessdate=October 6, 2013}}</ref>

On July 2, 2009, Antropov signed a four-year, $16.25 million deal with the [[Atlanta Thrashers]] as a free agent. He is expected to make $3.5 million the first year, $3.75 million the second, $4.25 million the third, and $4.75 million for the final year of the deal, for an average cap hit of $4.0625 million each year.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=ATL&season=0910 | title=Team Overview: Atlanta Thrashers | accessdate = 2009-07-09}}</ref> His first year with the Atlanta Thrashers was his most successful scoring 24 goals and 43 assists. Following the team's relocation to Winnipeg in the summer of 2011, Antropov had the honor of scoring the first goal of the new [[Winnipeg Jets]] on October 9, 2011 against the [[Montreal Canadiens]].  

On August 8, 2013, Antropov signed a two-year deal with [[Barys Astana]] of the [[KHL]], where he played during [[2012-13 NHL lockout]].<ref>{{cite web|work=CBC Sports|title=Nik Antropov inks 2-year deal with KHL club|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2013/08/08/sp-nhl-nik-antropov-khl.html?cmp=rss |date=August 8, 2013|accessdate=August 9, 2013}}</ref> At the conclusion of his two year tenure with Barys, Antropov opted to end his professional career and returned to Canada.<ref>{{cite web|work=KHL.ru|title=Nikolai Antropov's KHL Profile|url=http://en.khl.ru/players/13162/ |date=|accessdate=October 6, 2013}}</ref>

==International play==
{{MedalTableTop|name=}}
{{MedalCountry|{{KAZ}}}}
{{MedalSport|[[Ice hockey]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Asian Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1999 Asian Winter Games|1999 Gangwon]]|}}
{{MedalBottom}}
Internationally, Antropov represented [[Kazakhstan men's national ice hockey team|Kazakhstan]] in the 1998 IIHF World Championships, the 1999 World Junior Championships (earning eight points in six games) and in the [[2006 Winter Olympics]], where he scored one goal. Antropov captained the Kazakhstani squad on both occasions. He and [[Colorado Avalanche]] [[goaltender]] [[Vitali Kolesnik]] were the lone NHL players on the team.

==Career statistics==
[[File:Nik Antropov.png|thumb|Antropov with the [[Atlanta Thrashers|Thrashers]] in [[2009-10 NHL season|2009]].]]
===Regular season and playoffs===
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" | &nbsp;
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | &nbsp;
! colspan="5" | [[Regular season|Regular&nbsp;season]]
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | &nbsp;
! colspan="5" | [[Playoffs]]
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! [[Season (sports)|Season]]
! Team
! League
! GP
! [[Goal (ice hockey)|G]]
! [[Assist (ice hockey)|A]]
! [[Point (ice hockey)|Pts]]
! [[Penalty (ice hockey)|PIM]]
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1996–97 Vysshaya Liga season|1996–97]]
| [[Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk]]
| [[Vysshaya Liga (ice hockey)|RUS-2]]
| 8||2||1||3||6
| —||—||—||—||—||
|-
| [[1997–98 Vysshaya Liga season|1997–98]]
| Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk
| RUS-2
| 42||15||24||39||62
| —||—||—||—||—||
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1998–99 Russian Superleague season|1998–99]]
| [[HC Dynamo Moscow|Dynamo Moscow]]
| [[Russian Superleague|RSL]]
| 30||5||9||14||30
| 11||0||1||1||4
|-
| [[1999–2000 NHL season|1999–00]]
| [[Toronto Maple Leafs]]
| [[National Hockey League|NHL]]
| 66||12||18||30||41
| 3||0||0||0||4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1999–2000 AHL season|1999–00]]
| [[St. John's Maple Leafs]]
| [[American Hockey League|AHL]]
| 2||0||0||0||4
| —||—||—||—||—||
|-
| [[2000–01 NHL season|2000–01]]
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 52||6||11||17||30
| 9||2||1||3||12
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2001–02 NHL season|2001–02]]
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 11||1||1||2||4
| —||—||—||—||—
|-
| [[2001–02 AHL season|2001–02]]
| St. John's Maple Leafs
| AHL
| 34||11||24||35||47
| —||—||—||—||—
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2002–03 NHL season|2002–03]]
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 72||16||29||45||124
| 3||0||0||0||0
|-
| [[2003–04 NHL season|2003–04]]
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 62||13||18||31||62
| 13||0||2||2||18
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2004–05 Russian Superleague season|2004–05]]
| [[Ak Bars Kazan]]
| RSL
| 10||2||3||5||6
| —||—||—||—||—
|-
| 2004–05
| [[Lokomotiv Yaroslavl]]
| RSL
| 26||4||15||19||44
| 9||3||4||7||18
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2005–06 NHL season|2005–06]]
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 57||12||19||31||56
| —||—||—||—||—
|-
| [[2006–07 NHL season|2006–07]]
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 54||18||15||33||44
| —||—||—||—||—
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2007–08 NHL season|2007–08]]
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 72||26||30||56||92
| —||—||—||—||—
|-
| [[2008–09 NHL season|2008–09]]
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 63||21||25||46||24 
| —||—||—||—||—
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2008–09
| [[New York Rangers]]
| NHL
| 18||7||6||13||6 
| 7||2||1||3||6
|-
| [[2009–10 NHL season|2009–10]]
| [[Atlanta Thrashers]]
| NHL
| 76||24||43||67||44 
| —||—||—||—||—
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2010–11 NHL season|2010–11]]
| Atlanta Thrashers
| NHL
| 76||16||25||41||42 
| —||—||—||—||—
|-
| [[2011–12 NHL season|2011–12]]
| [[Winnipeg Jets]]
| NHL
| 69||15||20||35||42 
| —||—||—||—||—
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" 
| [[2012–13 KHL season|2012–13]]
| [[Barys Astana]]
| [[Kontinental Hockey League|KHL]]
| 26||3||14||17||39 
| —||—||—||—||—
|- 
| [[2012–13 NHL season|2012–13]]
| Winnipeg Jets
| NHL
| 40||6||12||18||16 
| —||—||—||—||—
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" 
| [[2013–14 KHL season|2013–14]]
| Barys Astana
| KHL
| 36||8||18||26||62 
| 10||1||3||4||14
|-
| [[2014–15 KHL season|2014–15]]
| Barys Astana
| KHL
| 39||7||14||21||64 
| 7||0||1||1||2
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 788!!193!!272!!465!!627
! 35!!4!!4!!8!!40
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | KHL totals
! 101!!18!!46!!64!!165
! 17!!1!!4!!5!!16
|}

===International===
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:40em"
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Year
! Team
! Event
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | &nbsp;
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|- ALIGN="center"
| [[1997 IIHF Asian Oceanic Junior U18 Championship|1997]]
| [[Kazakhstan men's national junior ice hockey team|Kazakhstan]]
| [[IIHF Asian Oceanic U18 Championships|AJC]]
| 3||1||1||2||4
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|1997]]
| Kazakhstan 
| [[IIHF World U20 Championship|WJC B]]
| 6||1||0||1||4
|- ALIGN="center"
| [[1998 IIHF European U18 Championship|1998]]
| Kazakhstan 
| [[IIHF European Junior Championships|EJC D]]
| 5||23||31||54||6
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|1998]]
| Kazakhstan
| WJC
| 7||0||6||6||8
|- ALIGN="center"
| [[1998 IIHF World Championship|1998]]
| [[Kazakhstan men's national ice hockey team|Kazakhstan]]
| [[Ice Hockey World Championships|WC]]
| 3||0||1||1||4
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1999 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|1999]]
| Kazakhstan
| WJC
| 6||3||5||8||14
|- ALIGN="center"
| [[Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics|2006]]
| Kazakhstan
| [[Ice hockey at the Olympic Games|OG]]
| 5||1||0||1||4
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2014 IIHF World Championship|2014]]
| Kazakhstan
| WC
| 6||1||4||5||29
|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e0e0;"
! colspan=3 | Junior totals
! 27
! 28
! 43
! 71
! 46
|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e0e0;"
! colspan=3 | Senior totals
! 14
! 2
! 5
! 7
! 37
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nikolai Antropov}}
* {{Ice hockey stats |nhl=8467353 |elite=8657 |espn= |euro=6765-nikolai-antropov |hr= |hockeydb=36977 |legendsm= |legends= |legendstype= |tsn=nik-antropov }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach}}
{{succession box | before = [[Jeff Ware (ice hockey)|Jeff Ware]] | title = [[List of Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks|Toronto Maple Leafs first round draft pick]] | years = [[1998 NHL Entry Draft|1998]] | after = [[Luca Cereda]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antropov, Nik}}
[[Category:1980 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Ak Bars Kazan players]]
[[Category:Atlanta Thrashers players]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists for Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1999 Asian Winter Games]]
[[Category:Barys Astana players]]
[[Category:Canadian ice hockey centres]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Russian descent]]
[[Category:HC Dynamo Moscow players]]
[[Category:Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Kazakhstani emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Kazakhstani ice hockey players]]
[[Category:Kazakhstani people of Russian descent]]
[[Category:Kazzinc-Torpedo players]]
[[Category:Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players]]
[[Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada]]
[[Category:New York Rangers players]]
[[Category:Olympic ice hockey players of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Oskemen]]
[[Category:St. John's Maple Leafs players]]
[[Category:Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks]]
[[Category:Toronto Maple Leafs players]]
[[Category:Winnipeg Jets players]]