 Nikitin spent his junior career skating in the Avangard Omsk hockey system.He was a regular on Russia's under-18 and under-20 national squads and spent several seasons skating in the professional Russian Superleague (RSL) with Avangard, establishing himself as a strong Superleague-calibre defense-man.Nikitin was drafted by the St. Louis Blues with the 136th overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.