The former New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators forwards lead the KHL scoring race

The New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators are both impressing in the NHL this season. The Metropolitan Division has quickly become one of the most exciting division races in the league, and that’s largely due to the exciting teams from these organizations.

While the NHL season is the primary concern for the Devils and Senators, they both have reason to keep an eye on professional leagues around the world. In Russia and the KHL in particular, former Carolina and New Jersey players are standing out and leading their points race as their season reaches the halfway point.

Nikita Gusev was a one-hit wonder for the Devils during the 2019-2020 season. In 66 games with New Jersey, he scored 13 goals and provided 31 assists. That would be his only full season in the NHL.

Since returning to the KHL for the 2021-2022 season, he has been an elite goalscorer for both SKA St. Petersburg and currently Dynamo Moskva. This season he is once again one of Russia’s top scorers with 14 goals, 18 assists and 32 points in his first 33 games. He is currently the third-leading scorer in the entire KHL.

Directly in front of him is Stephane De Costa, a former NHL journeyman and forward for the Ottawa Senators. The Paris, France native played 47 NHL games over four seasons for the Sens in the early 2010s before becoming a fixture in the KHL during the 2014-2015 season.

This year, the 35-year-old De Costa is the KHL’s best lineman. In his first 31 games he only scored seven goals, but had 26 assists for a total of 33 points. Last year he scored 54 points all season and it looks like he will surpass that number in 2025.

It’s always an interesting study to see how former and future NHL players perform in other professional leagues. Both Gusev and De Costa weren’t great fits for their NHL teams for a number of reasons, but they’ve had incredible success in Russia and that should continue for the rest of this season.

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