2025 World Juniors Preview: Team Kazakhstan needs help to avoid relegation
The good news? Kazakhstan has only played in six top-level World Junior Championship tournaments since 2000. But every time they’ve gotten promoted, they’ve managed to win at least one game along the way to stay up for a second year.
The bad news? They just don’t have a lot to work with this year. A good majority of the team play on the same Kazakh-based team in the Russian junior league, Snezhnye Barsy Astana, and there’s a few guys that have KHL experience, too.
But, truly, this isn’t a good team. Kazakhstan will firmly be in the hunt to avoid relegation, but will likely finish in the bottom of Group B. They’re luckily to be playing in the weaker of the two groups, but it’s still going to be an upward battle for them to pull off any upsets.
Looking back to 2024
Kazakhstan entered the Division IA tournament sitting as favorites, using a solid mix of talented youngsters and older veterans. They started off with 5-2 win over Hungary in the opening game before following it up with a 3-2 win over Austria – an important result to secure gold. A 4-0 win over France and a 3-1 victory over Japan helped seal the deal, ultimately rendering the 7-6 shootout loss to Austria meaningless. They didn’t get any offensive explosions at this tournament – Davlat Nurkenov was the lone Kazakh player in the top 10 in scoring. But an excellent showing by Vladimir Nikitin in net helped secure gold, sending them back to the top division for the first time since before the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Goaltenders
Kazakhstan’s lone NHL-drafted prospect is going to be their most important player by far. It’s expected that Vladimir Nikitin will be the runaway starter for Kazakhstan again this year. He was also the top goaltender at the Division IA tournament a year ago, which helped see the Kazakhs qualify for the big show in Ottawa. Nikitin’s stats aren’t pretty in the MHL, but he’s a big part of a bad team. He is a bit of a longshot to make the Ottawa Senators in the future, but at 6-foot-5, he takes a heck of a lot of space in the net and is as competitive as they come.
Jokhar Dudarkiyev only has four starts in the Russian junior league to his credit this year but has played decently well enough. He has never played for Kazakhstan internationally, but he moves well and covers the top of the net. Danil Lytkin, meanwhile, was Kazakhstan’s backup at the U-18s last year. He’s playing Russian U-18 hockey this year with some decent showings, but if he gets into any game action this year, it’ll be his toughest competition to date.
Kazakhstan’s most important game will be the Dec. 31 battle against Switzerland. If the Swiss can pull off an upset before that, it might not matter too much. But if there’s a chance for the Kazakhs to take the tiebreaker, they’ll need Nikitin to be sharp.
Defensemen
Beibarys Orazov is the lone defenseman on this team who has primarily played in the KHL this year. He doesn’t have a single point to show for with Barys Astana, but he is primarily finding himself in shutdown roles. Against U-20 competition, Orazov has actually put in some good results – but this will be the biggest test of the 19-year-olds abilities after a great showing a year ago in Division IA.
Gleb Reshetko has never registered a point for the Kazakhs in national team play, but did play quite a bit last year. Look for him to be more of a stay-at-home blueliner who keeps things simple with the puck. If you’re looking for a bit more creativity, Mistislav Shipilin is a mobile, 5-foot-11 defender who was one of the top Kazakh players at the U-18s last year. He might not be doing a lot in the MHL, but he does often play over 20 minutes a night on a bad team.
Aslan Zhusupbekov does have some experience playing on North American ice. He had an 11-game stint with the ACHA’s University of Illinois, which isn’t too high of a college program. Still, he should be able to adjust to the smaller ice, even if he reverted back to playing locally for 2024-25. Roman Bolshedvorsky, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound defenseman who loves taking space away, and he’s a bit more skilled than his limited production would suggest. Many thought he could have gotten drafted last year, but he ultimately went unselected.
The blueline is going to be busy – and perhaps too overwhelming. You can’t win games by not scoring and playing pure shutdown hockey, but it might be their only chance at keeping high-danger opportunities at bay.
Forwards
Kazakhstan doesn’t have many scoring options to choose from, so they’re going to need to get creative. Kirill Lyapunov has played well in the Russian U-20 league and was one of the better players at the Division IA tournament last year. This will be his third World Juniors and fifth major IIHF tournament, and he has had a positive impact at just about all of them so far in his career.
He’ll likely skate on the top line alongside Barsya Astana teammate Adil Beisembayev, a 19-year-old center sitting second in team scoring. He also had a nice showing at the DIA tournament last year and was a big reason why Kazakhstan was promoted to the top U-18 tournament for 2024 after putting up great numbers in 2023. Rounding out the group will be Semyon Simonov, who has seven games of KHL experience this year. When he’s playing in the MHL, he’s a point-per-game player on the top line and there’s no reason to believe he’ll have a lesser role at this event, either.
Alexander Kim is an older player with some decent speed. The winger is in his second year with the NAHL’s Bismarck Bobcats, where he has shown some solid improvement, according to scouts. He’s not a play driver, but he combines energy and a willingness to block shots. Asanali Ruslanuly will be promoted up in the lineup after a quiet showing a year ago – he might not produce a lot, but he’s a smart, two-way center.
One carry-over from the U-18 team a year ago is Abzal Alibek. He had a point-per-game run for the offensively strapped squad, highlighted by a two-point night against Canada. He might be producing quiet numbers with the NAHL’s Philadelphia Rebels, but he’s good enough with the puck to make some damage. Another notable player from that team is Asanali Sarkenov, a 6-foot-4 forward with Spokane of the WHL. He started the pre-tournament a little deeper down in the lineup, but look for him to still play a big role for this year because his offensive abilities and pure muscle are among the best on this team.
2025 NHL Draft Watch
He’s going to be a depth player for this team, and it’s extremely unlikely he’ll get drafted. But Sanzhar Ibragim is one that scouts have indicated could be a potential late-round pick. He’s a defensive-minded blueliner who loves to play with an aggressive edge. His ice time has bounced around a lot in the MHL this year, but he’s still playing more than an average 17-year-old. This will be his first time playing for Kazakhstan internationally.
Projection
Yeah, it’s going to be a disaster for the Kazakhs. Sure, they’ve got the baked-in chemistry from mostly playing together throughout the season, but it’s not a good group. There isn’t a game-changing forward like most newly promoted teams need to give them a chance. They’re lacking quality defense, and a lot of the pressure will be placed on a goalie who is a longshot to even get an NHL job down the line. All they need to do is win that relegation game to stay alive, but they’ve got the weakest team on paper and will need a few miracles along the way to make it work.
Round-Robin Schedule
Dec. 27 vs. Sweden: 5:00 PM ET
Dec. 28 vs. Czechia: 1:00 PM ET
Dec. 30 vs. Slovakia: 1:00 PM ET
Dec. 31 vs. Switzerland: 12:00 PM ET
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