Looking Ahead in the KHL
And just like that, the 2019-20 hockey season in Russia has come to an official end — probably. Most leagues have either finished their season (the ZhHL) or have declared the current campaign cancelled (the KHL, VHL, and PVHL as of last week), and only the two junior leagues are still holding out any hope of completing their playoffs at a future date. For all intents and purposes, we are now into the off-season, and beginning the consideration of the 2020-21 campaign. Read on, therefore, for some early KHL storylines as we look ahead (with any luck) to this Fall!
Whither Mr. Mozyakin?
It was bound to happen at some point, and the sad moment may have arrived. It appears that forward Sergei Mozyakin, the KHL’s all-time leading scorer by a country verst and probably the greatest post-Soviet player never to have suited up in the NHL, has played his last game for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, and possibly his last game period. Negotiations between club and player on a new contract have reportedly not been productive, and the Magnitgorsk team, significantly, is said to have broached the subject of him taking up coaching (they have also discussed retiring his number prior to next season). If Metallurg don’t see Mozyakin as an on-ice contributor next season, a return to his hometown of Yaroslavl is also a possibility; he came up through the youth ranks at the club that was then Torpedo Yaroslavl (now Lokomotiv) before leaving two decades ago for CSKA.
The x-factor in all of this may be Sergei Mozyakin’s 18-year-old son Andrei, currently in Metallurg’s junior system. The elder Mozyakin has in the past expressed a desire to play long enough to line up alongside his son in the KHL, so we may get another year or two out of him yet, and possibly with Metallurg. We will see.
Mozyakin is not be the only big-name player on whose playing career the sun may be setting. It was a season of disappointment for Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, out in the first round despite one of the league’s larger payrolls — that will mean changes, and one of them may be the end of the playing career for the great Pavel Datsyuk. He’s a free agent, he’ll be 42 by the time the new season starts, and he missed significant time this season with injury. And Lokomotiv Yaroslavl defenceman Staffan Kronwall, 11th all-time in points by a KHL rearguard and 28th in blueline games played, indicated earlier this month that his playing days are done, although he has since walked those comments back.
Coaches!
This off-season should see the usual shuffling behind the KHL’s benches, and one very significant move has already taken place. Admiral Vladivostok named Sergei Nemchinov as their new Sports Director earlier this week and he wasted little time in his new role; out as head coach is Sergei Svetlov, replaced by 49-year-old Latvian bench boss Leonīds Tambijevs. It will be a highly-anticipated KHL coaching debut for Tambijevs, who has done very very well indeed in the second-tier VHL; his hiring in Vladivostok may be more a case of Admiral grabbing a guy they wanted than a reflection of any serious unhappiness with Svetlov.
Tambijevs’ hiring kicks off the summer 2020 coaching carousel, and of course it will not be the last move. Dinamo Riga are looking for a new bench boss, and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg will soon be doing likewise (Lokomotiv have been heavily linked with current Barys Nur-Sultan head coach Andrei Skabelka). There are some familiar names out there too among the candidates, including ex-Traktor Chelyabinsk and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod boss Pēteris Skudra. Skudra’s 2019-20 run with Traktor was something of a nadir for him, but he’s too good a coach not to get another look at some point, and there’s an excellent chance that he ends up back in his hometown of Riga, with Dinamo. Czech coach Miloš Říha, who has extensive KHL experience, has also been mentioned for a possible return to the league.
As a side note on the coaching goings-on, here’s sending best wishes to departing Lokomotiv head coach Mike Pelino. The longtime KHL assistant (with Avangard and Metallurg Magnitogorsk), and former head coach of the OHL’s Peterborough Petes tested positive recently for the COVID-19 virus, as did his wife. Both the Pelinos are reportedly doing well, and resting at home, and I hope they both have a quick and uncomplicated recovery.
Goings:
In addition to the potential retirements mentioned above, there are going to be, as every off-season, some significant players changing sweaters. Import forward Nigel Dawes will likely join coach Martemyanov in heading out the door at Avtomobilist, while another all-time KHL scorer, Linus Omark, said his farewells to Salavat Yulaev Ufa this past week (see above). Omark is said to be heading for Swiss league, and Genève-Servette HC, while Dawes will likely be very much in demand across the KHL. Forward Steve Moses, former holder of the KHL’s single-season goals record, is gone as well, to Rapperswil-Jona of the Swiss league.
On the subject of departures, we will keep an eye on younger players of interest to NHL teams as well, particularly with the KHL’s new hard salary cap set to arrive next season. This is likely to drive some talent overseas, at least at first, and (still!) defending champions CSKA Moscow may be one of the harder-hit teams. Forward Kirill Kaprizov, defenceman Alexander Romanov, and goalie Ilya Sorokin are being courted for next season by Minnesota, Montreal, and the New York Islanders respectively — all three have the potential to star in the NHL, and we should not be surprised if they’re in North America a few months from now. And there has been much talk in recent days of the possibility that SKA St. Petersburg forward Alexander Barabanov will head for North America, with Toronto and Arizona listed among his suitors.
Comings:
There has been less news on the “new arrivals” front, mostly because it is a bit unclear when or if the NHL will finish its 2019-20 season; San Jose forward Lukáš Radil is said to be returning to Spartak Moscow, and there have been a couple of other names mentioned in passing as well, but not much happening just yet. In the meantime, KHL clubs are casting the eye over other European leagues, and there are some interesting possibilities out there. Vityaz Moscow Oblast are reportedly looking at HC Davos forward Mattias Tedenby, whom New Jersey Devils fans may recall from a few seasons ago. Another possible newcomer from the Swiss league is Finnish national-team forward Harri Pesonen, currently with Langnau; recent reports have connected him with Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
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This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of rumours moves, just a few little items to whet the appetite for off-season doings. Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll keep an eye on developments there, and also take a look back at the cruelly foreshortened 2019-20 campaign (work proceeds on a post on attendance, and there are other things coming as well). Thank you for reading, and stay healthy!
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