One of the OHL’s most high-powered offensive attacks just added another weapon to its vast arsenal. The Anaheim Ducks announced Friday that the club was sending first-round pick Nikita Klepov back to the Saginaw Spirit after four appearances with the NHL club so far this season.
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Klepov, who was selected 15th overall by Anaheim in June, had not yet registered a point in the NHL while averaging 13:03 of ice time.
After leading the OHL in scoring last season, he’ll rejoin the team that currently boasts the top two scorers in the league in Dimian Zhilkin and Braidy Wassilyn, each of whom have 25 points in 14 games. Klepov posted a league-best 97 points in 2025-26 on his way to becoming a top-15 pick.
Roster Move: We have assigned Nikita Klepov to the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL.
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) October 30, 2026
Details ⬇️https://t.co/CIyMEGLRHY
The 18-year-old had initially planned to go to Michigan State University for this season, but opted instead to sign with the Ducks in hopes of gaining a permanent roster spot following his draft year. Klepov got the contract he coveted, but did not establish himself as NHL ready following his stint with the Ducks.
By sending Klepov back to the OHL, the Ducks can now can slide his entry-level contract a year, giving them three more years on the more affordable contract.
Additionally, while the NHL and CHL have a new agreement regarding players that are eligible to be loaned to the AHL, Klepov is not yet old enough to fall under that agreement. That only applies to players in their Age 19 season that were selected in the first round. Klepov is in his Age 18 season.
A dual U.S.-Russia citizen, Klepov is still considered an import in the OHL. That means Saginaw will have to either trade Klepov or one of the other imports currently on their roster. The club has three Russians – goalie and Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick Stepan Shurygin, rookie defenseman Gordei Khotkov, and rookie forward Dmitry Savin.
Adding an experienced scorer to the group like Klepov should help quite a bit, especially since Saginaw has had an uneven start to the 2026-27 campaign.
Despite having such a potent scoring attack including the league’s top two scorers, Saginaw sits fourth in their Division and eighth in the Western Conference with a 6-5-2-1 record. Scoring hasn’t been much of a problem, but preventing goals has been.
However, you’d have to think adding another elite talent to the mix is going to allow them to outscore their problems even more.
Klepov was the league’s Rookie of the Year in addition to being its scoring champion in 2025-26, becoming the first to hold both those titles in the same year since Patrick Kane back in 2006-07.
This move will have further NHL Draft implications as well with Dima Zhilkin looking like one of the very best prospects for 2027. Adding another elite playmaker to the team should only help the gifted scorer. The Spirit also boast a first-round candidate in defenseman Levi Harper, who also played with Klepov for the first U.S. team to win the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup since 2003 in the summer of 2005.
As for Klepov, this probably was not the desired outcome when you have the chance to make an NHL team. It became increasingly clear that he wasn’t quite ready for what the NHL was going to throw at him. A few of his draft peers, including Viggo Björck, who went six spots higher, have struggled to find and stay on the score sheet.
Now he’ll go back to a familiar place, regain that offensive confidence and get ready to give it another shot with Anaheim next year.
It is unclear at this point when Klepov will join the Spirit officially, but they are back in action on FloHockey Friday night against the Barrie Colts.
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