Alexander Mogilny

Alexander Mogilny (born Alexander Gennadevich Mogilny on February 17, 1969), is a former Russian professional ice hockey player who is currently the president of Amur Khabarovsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

In the National Hockey League (NHL), he played for the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils.

Alexander tied for the NHL lead in goals in the 1992–93 season with 76 and became a member of the Triple Gold Club by winning the Stanley Cup in 2000 with the New Jersey Devils.

Playing Career
In the Soviet Union, Alexander played on a line with center Sergei Fedorov and winger Pavel Bure. He represented the Soviet Union in 1988 and 1989 at the World Junior Championships, winning the Best Forward award in 1988.

He was also part of the 1987 junior squad that competed in the World Championships (known as the "Punch-up in Piestany") after both the Canadian and Russian juniors were disqualified after a bench clearing brawl in the gold medal match. Alexander played for the senior Soviet team that won a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

After the medal ceremony of the 1989 World Championships in Stockholm, Alexander left the Soviet team and defected to North America with the help of representatives of the Buffalo Sabres, the NHL club that had drafted him 89th overall a year earlier in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft.

Buffalo Sabres
Alexander chose the number 89 in recognition of both the year he defected and his place in the draft, wearing #89 for his entire playing career. As a rookie, he struggled adapting to the North American culture and language, but produced a respectable amount of offense with 43 points in 65 games.

Alexander's offensive production steadily improved over the next three years, largely credited to playing on the Sabres top line with Pat Lafontaine. He tied Teemu Selanne for the most goals scored in the 1992–93 NHL season, scoring 76 goals in 77 games.

His production faltered after a long-term injury befell linemate Lafontaine, though he continued to be a key component of the Sabres offense, scoring 126 points in 110 games over the next two seasons.

Vancouver Canucks
Due to financial restraints brought about by the contractual demands of Pat Lafontaine and Dominik Hasek, the Sabres were forced to trade Alexander along with a fifth round draft pick (Todd Norman) to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Mike Peca, Mike Wilson and a first round draft pick (Jay McKee) on July 8, 1995.

Alexander began the season playing with his former linemate from junior, Pavel Bure, on what was expected to be one of the NHL's premiere offensive combinations. Bure would miss almost the entire season with a torn ACL, but he would find chemistry with Cliff Ronning & Martin Gelinas, scoring 107 points in his first season with the team. He would lead the team in scoring again in the 1996–97 season.

However, Alexander's success would not last due to minor injuries, reduced ice time and inconsistent effort which dropped his production to 128 points in 157 games over the next three seasons.

Due to a lack of team success and the perception that the trade with the Sabres had been a loss (as Mike Peca and Jay McKee would become star players in the Sabres organization), Alexander was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Brendan Morrison & Denis Pederson on March 14, 2000.

New Jersey Devils
The Devils acquired Alexander in the weeks leading up to the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs in hopes of him providing offense on a primarily defensive team. Even though he struggled, only scoring four goals in 23 games, the Devils won the Stanley Cup, which would be his first and only NHL championship.

Alexander would regain his form the following season, scoring 83 points, his highest total in five seasons. The Devils would again advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, this time losing to the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. Mogilny would score 16 points in 25 playoff games.

Toronto Maple Leafs
During the 2001 off-season, Alexander signed a four-year, $22 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and quickly became one of their top players. Despite missing 16 games of the season with a knee injury, he was able to score 24 goals and 57 points to place him second in team scoring. He would elevate his play during the post-season of the same year.

During the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs (with team captain Mats Sundin injured for much of the playoffs), Alexander contributed offensively, scoring eight goals, including two goals in each of the Game 7s versus the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators. The Leafs, however, would fall in six games in the conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Alexander emerged as the Leafs top scorer in the 2002–03 season, becoming the only player to out-perform Mats Sundin as the team's leading scorer since his Leafs debut, besting him by seven points and finishing in the top-15 in league scoring, with 79 points.

In Game 1 of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Alexander recorded his first career playoff hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers. He was awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct at season's end.

In the 2003–04 season, he injured his hip and required major surgery, missing most of the season. He would return late to help the Leafs finish with their best record in franchise history.

On March 15, 2004, versus the Buffalo Sabres, Alexander became the second Russian player in NHL history to ever to score 1,000 career points in the NHL when he assisted on the game-tying goal by Gary Roberts. The Leafs would complete the comeback, after trailing 5–2 in the third period, and win 6–5 in overtime when he set up Tomas Kaberle for the game-winning goal.

Return to New Jersey
Recovering over the the lockout cancelled 2004–05 season, Alexander returned to the NHL, re-signing with New Jersey in August 2005 after agreeing to a US$7 million deal for two years.

After clearing waivers, he was assigned to the Albany River Rats, the Devils' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate at the time in order to make salary cap room for Patrik Elias' return.

Alexander's 473 career NHL goals at the time were the most ever for a player entering the AHL. He played 19 games for the River Rats and retired at the end of the season. He was the first non-North American to lead the league in goals scored (along with Teemu Selänne from Finland), the first Russian to be named to the NHL All-Star Team, the first non-North American to be named captain of an NHL team and is (as of the end of the 2013–14 season) the second all-time Russian scorer in the NHL, only behind former linemate Sergei Fedorov.

Alexander was the second Russian player to score 1,000 points in the NHL, reaching the milestone just a few days after Fedorov.

Regular season and playoffs
Bolded numbers indicate season/ playoff leader

International Play
At the 1988 Winter Olympics, Alexander made his senior debut with the Soviet national team as an 18-year-old in Canada. He played with the full-roster Soviet Union team that won the gold medal.

In the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Team Russia had played five preliminary games in order to set the groupings for the main tournament stage. Russia was the only team that went undefeated (winning against Finland (Moscow), Germany (Landshut), Sweden (Stockholm), USA (Detroit) & tied against Canada (Calgary).

The U.S.A, Sweden and Finland games saw the pairing line of "Bure-Fedorov-Mogilny", for the first and only time internationally on the senior level and was considered "perhaps the best forward line on earth" at the time.

Alexander and Sergei Fedorov played on the same line and both led the team in scoring, but they lost in the semi-finals against U.S.A, after defeating Finland 5–0 in the quarterfinals.

Accolades

 * NHL All-Star Game(s) – 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003 (Injured)
 * NHL Second All-Star Team – 1993, 1996
 * NHL Stanley Cup Champion – 2000 with the New Jersey Devils
 * 1992–93 NHL Season – Goal Scoring Leader (76) (*tied) (since 1999, this distinction has been awarded the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy)
 * 2002–03 NHL Season – Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
 * (NHL) 1992–93 Season – Game-Winning Goals (11) (1st)
 * Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame (Inducted on January 1, 2011)
 * (IIHF) 1988 World Junior Championships - All-Star Team
 * (IIHF) 1988 World Junior Championships - (Best Forward)
 * Member of the Triple Gold Club (June 10, 2000)
 * Inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.