Victor Nechayev

{{Short description|Russian ice hockey player (born 1955)}}

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image =

| caption =

| position = Forward

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 183

| played_for = Los Angeles Kings

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|1|28|mf=y}}

| draft = 132nd overall

| draft_year = 1982

| draft_team = Los Angeles Kings

|birth_place = Kuybyshevka-Vostochnaya, Amur Oblast,
Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

| career_start = 1972

| career_end = 1984

}}

Victor Nechayev (born January 28, 1955) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who played three games for the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League.{{cite web |last1=Maughan |first1=TJ |title=The Shifts that Changed the Game: The Defection |url=https://www.arcticicehockey.com/2012/5/14/3007268/shifts-that-changed-the-game-the-defection |website=Arctic Ice Hockey |publisher=Vox Media |access-date=21 April 2020 |date=14 May 2012}} He was the first player from the Soviet Union to play in the NHL, as well as the first to score a goal.

A native of Siberia, Nechayev met Cheryl Haigler, an American citizen, in Switzerland in 1976, while he was playing for the Red Army team. They married in 1980 in Leningrad.{{cite news |last1=Elderkin |first1=Phil |title=Ex-Red Army player breaks the NHL ice (briefly) as league's first Soviet skater |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1982/1027/102735.html |access-date=21 April 2020 |publisher=The Christian Science Monitor |date=27 October 1982}} In April 1982, Nechayev was granted permission to join his wife in the United States.{{cite web |last1=Peng |first1=Sheng |title=Spies, System & Victor Netchaev |url=https://www.nhl.com/kings/news/victor-netchaev-first-soviet-national-to-play-in-nhl/c-282934366 |publisher=NHL |access-date=21 April 2020 |date=22 October 2016}}

In the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, Nechayev was picked 132nd overall by the Kings. Unlike other Soviet players, Nechayev was able to join the team immediately, since he was already living in North America at the time he was drafted.{{cite web |title=1982 NHL Draft Pick - Victor Nechaev |url=http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1982/82132.html |access-date=21 April 2020}} He scored his only NHL goal against the New York Rangers on October 17, 1982.