Maxim Shabanov
Minnesota Wild Right Wing
An undrafted KHL scorer who arrived at twenty-five and looked, in a bottom-six role, like he could do more.
| Season | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 44 | 5 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 8.9 | 13:41 |
| Career | 44 | 5 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 8.9 | 13:41 |
Last Season
Five goals and 18 points in 44 games on thirteen and a half minutes a night, with two penalty minutes all season. Eighteen points in that role, in a first North American year, is a better return than it looks.
The Finesse Game
The skill is real and it is why a club signed a twenty-five-year-old out of Russia. He is quick in small areas, he makes plays through traffic that most bottom-six forwards do not attempt, and thirteen assists against five goals says a player looking to create rather than finish.
Fifty-six shots in forty-four games is a decent volume, and the release is good. What has not yet been established is whether the creativity survives against harder competition — most of his minutes came in sheltered spots.
The Physical Game
Five-nine and 167, and there is no getting around it. He does not go to the interior, he is removed from pucks along the wall by anybody who wants to, and two penalty minutes across a season describes a player who avoids contested areas entirely.
The Intangibles
He was a genuine star in the KHL, which historically translates unevenly. The early evidence here is encouraging without being conclusive.
The realistic projection is a skilled middle-six winger who needs a spot alongside players who can win pucks for him. On a team that just lost two veterans, the opening exists.