Foreign Players in the KHL: the 2020-21 List

Early in the 2018-19 season, we took a look at the foreign player rules in the KHL — those rules have remained substantially the same since then, but there was one significant development late last month. The KHL has amended its regulations so that Kazakh players (i.e. players eligible for the national team of Kazakhstan) will no longer count as Imports when playing for Russian teams; in that, they now have the same status as Belarusians. With that in mind, below the jump you’ll find a list of Import players currently under contract for 2020-21 with KHL teams — read on…

Last update: August 13th, 2020 (Dinamo Riga).

A very quick reminder of how it works: Russian KHL teams are allowed to dress no more than five Import players per game, but may have more than that on the overall roster. Non-Russian KHL clubs must have, on the overall roster, at least ten players who are either from the club’s own country or are Russian.

The list includes only players whose who are confirmed under contract for next season, and only those who count officially as Imports. On that note, I have done my best with the issue of naturalized players (Barys, Dinamo Minsk, and Kunlun Red Star are the teams most affected by that), but I am not sure that I have gotten it 100% correct in all cases. An asterisk indicated a player who is a new acquisition this off-season, and please do feel free to point out any errors or omissions in the comments!

Ak Bars Kazan:

• F Justin Azevedo (Canada)
• F Patrice Cormier (Canada)
• F Stéphane Da Costa* (France)
• G Adam Reideborn (Sweden)
• D Mikael Wikstrand (Sweden)

Amur Khabarovsk:

• D Michal Jordán (Czechia)
• G Marek Langhamer (Czechia)
• D Dominik Mašín* (Czechia)
• F Hynek Zohorna (Czechia)
• F Tomáš Zohorna (Czechia)

Avangard Omsk:

• F Reid Boucher* (USA)
• D Oliwer Kaski* (Finland)
• F Corban Knight* (Canada)
• D Ville Pokka (Finland)
• F Jiří Sekáč* (Czechia)

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg:

• D Chay Genoway* (Canada)
• F Peter Holland (Canada)
• G Jakub Kovář (Czechia)
• F Brooks Macek (Germany)
• F Dan Sexton (USA)

Barys Nur-Sultan:

• F Matt Frattin* (Canada)
• F Jakob Lilja* (Sweden)
• G Joni Ortio* (Finland)
• D Viktor Svedberg (Sweden)
• F Linus Videll (Sweden)

CSKA Moscow:

• D Klas Dahlbeck (Sweden)
• G Lars Johansson (Sweden)
• F Mario Kempe (Sweden)
• D Mat Robinson (Canada)

Dinamo Minsk:

• D Adam Almqvist* (Sweden)
• G Dominik Furch* (Czechia)
• F Rob Klinkhammer* (Canada)
• F Brandon Kozun* (Canada)
• F Francis Paré (Canada)
• F Shane Prince (USA)
• F Ryan Spooner (Canada)
• G Danny Taylor (Canada)

Dinamo Riga:

• D Morgan Ellis* (Canada)
• F Konstantin Komarek* (Austria)
• J.C. Lipon* (Canada)
• F Zack Mitchell* (Canada)
• D Ondřej Vitásek* (Czechia)

Dynamo Moscow:

• D Michal Čajkovský (Slovakia)
• D Juuso Hietanen (Finland)
• F Dmitrij Jaškin (Czechia)
• F Oscar Lindberg* (Sweden)
• F Teemu Pulkkinen (Finland)

Jokerit Helsinki:

• D Alex Grant (Canada)
• F Nicklas Jensen (Denmark)
• G Jānis Kalniņš (Latvia)
• G Anders Lindbäck* (Sweden)
• D Viktor Lööv (Sweden)
• F John Norman (Sweden)
• F Brian O’Neill (USA)
• D Jonathan Pudas* (Sweden)
• F Jordan Schroeder* (USA)
• D David Sklenička (Czechia)

Kunlun Red Star Beijing:

• F Gilbert Brulé (Canada)
• D Jake Chelios (USA)
• G Šimon Hrubec (Czechia)
• F Danny Kristo* (USA)
• D Trevor Murphy (Canada)
• G Jeremy Smith (USA)

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl:

• F Anton Lander (Sweden)
• D Atte Ohtamaa* (Finland)
• F Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson (Sweden)
• G Eddie Pasquale* (Canada)
• F André Petersson* (Sweden)

Metallurg Magnitogorsk:

• F Taylor Beck* (Canada)
• F Juho Lammikko* (Finland)
• F Andrej Nestrašil (Czechia)
• G Juho Olkinuora* (Finland)
• F Harri Pesonen* (Finland)

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk:

• F Libor Hudáček* (Slovakia)
• D Julian Melchiori* (Canada)
• D Otso Rantakari* (Finland)

Salavat Yulaev Ufa:

• F Markus Granlund* (Finland)
• F Teemu Hartikainen (Finland)
• D Philip Larsen (Denmark)
• F Sakari Manninen (Finland)
• G Juha Metsola (Finland)

Severstal Cherepovets:

• F Jindřich Abdul* (Czechia)
• F Roberts Bukarts* (Latvia)
• D Shawn Lalonde* (Canada)
• F Adam Liška (Slovakia)
• F Joonas Nättinen* (Finland)
• D Veli-Matti Vittasmäki* (Finland)

Sibir Novosibirsk Oblast:

• D Jyrki Jokipakka (Finland)
• F Eric O’Dell* (Canada)
• F Juuso Puustinen (Finland)
• F Mikael Ruohomaa (Finland)
• G Harri Säteri (Finland)

SKA St. Petersburg:

• F Miro Aaltonen (Finland)
• D Lukas Bengtsson (Sweden)
• G Magnus Hellberg (Sweden)
• F Joonas Kemppainen (Finland)
• F Linden Vey* (Canada)

HK Sochi:

• F Jere Karjalainen* (Finland)
• F Linus Johansson* (Sweden)
• G Joel Lassinantti* (Sweden)
• F Marcus Nilsson* (Sweden)
• D David Rundblad (Sweden)

Spartak Moscow:

• F Martin Bakoš* (Slovakia)
• D Emil Djuse* (Sweden)
• F Robin Hanzl (Czechia)
• G Július Hudáček (Slovakia)
• F Jori Lehterä* (Finland)
• F Lukáš Radil* (Czechia)

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod:

• D Brady Austin* (Canada)
• F Justin Kloos* (USA)
• F Andy Miele* (USA)
• F Jordan Szwarz* (Canada)
• D Chris Wideman* (USA)

Traktor Chelyabinsk:

• F Pontus Åberg* (Sweden)
• F Jacob Berglund* (Sweden)
• F Tomáš Hyka (Czechia)
• F Lukáš Sedlák (Czechia)
• D Lawrence Pilut* (Sweden)
• G Roman Will* (Czechia)

Vityaz Moscow Oblast:

• F Justin Danforth* (Canada)
• F Kaspars Daugaviņš* (Latvia)
• D Linus Hultström* (Sweden)
• D Jakub Jeřábek (Czechia)
• F Mattias Tedenby* (Sweden)