The KHL’s Youth Brigade in 2019-20: Mid-Season Report

Severstal Cherepovets’ 20-year-old Slovakian forward Adam Liška, who led all KHL junior-age players in goals and total ice-time in the first half of this season. (Image Source)

With this post, we wrap up our series of mid-season reports on young player usage in the KHL in 2019-20. Last time, we looked at the overall numbers for the league’s 24 teams; now, we will look at the entire group of junior-age skaters in the KHL. Read on, and we’ll break down the group by position and year of birth.

Junior Players in the KHL, 2019-20: A Look at the Teams

Dinamo Minsk’s 20-year-old defenceman Vladislav Yeryomenko has seen a lot of ice-time this fall and winter, as have a number of his team-mates. (Image Source)

We move along this evening in our look at the junior-agers in the KHL, and this time we’ve got some fact and figures about teams’ usage of young skaters overall during the first half of the 2019-20 season. Which teams gave lots of ice-time to their youngsters (there’s a clue in the image above), and which did not? And which team got the most points from their junior-age skaters? The answers are below, so read on…

Junior-Agers in the Kharlamov Division (Mid-Season Report)

Traktor Chelyabinsk’s prodigal forward Vitali Kravtsov, who has returned to a team where young players are already getting a lot of looks in the lineup. (Image Source)

And herewith we wrap up the divisional portion of our mid-season look at the KHL’s young skaters. Last, but by no means least, on the docket is the Kharlamov Division of the East Conference, which means that we will be discussing Ak Bars, Avtomobilist, Metallurg, Neftekhimik, Sibir, and Traktor. There are some spectacular young skaters coming along in this division, plus a truly unique approach to young-player usage at Avtomobilist, so read on!

Junior-Agers in the Bobrov Division (Mid-Season Report)

SKA’s Vasili Podkolzin — an eagerly-watched young forward on both sides of the ocean(s)! (Image Source)

This is the third in our division-by-division peeks at the use of junior-age skaters in the KHL, season 2019-20. We’re back in the West Conference for this one, checking in with the clubs of the Bobrov Division, namely Dinamo Riga, Dynamo Moscow, Jokerit, Severstal, SKA, and Spartak. In general, this division has trotted out a lot of young players this season, including a couple of highly-anticipated NHL draft-picks, so read on!

Junior-Agers in the Chernyshev Division (Mid-Season Report)

Salavat Yulaev forward Rodion Amirov in action for Russia at the U18 Worlds this past spring. He just turned 18 in October, but has seen a fair amount of KHL time in 2019-20. (Image Source)

Onward, with the “young skaters in the 2019-20 KHL” series! We began last time with the Tarasov Division, and his time, we’re in the Far East (partially), looking at the teams of the Chernyshev Division: Admiral, Amur, Avangard, Barys, Kunlun Red Star, and Salavat Yulaev. Which team has given a lot of games to a 2002-born defenceman, and which has not used any junior skaters at all this season? Read on…

Junior-Agers in the Tarasov Division (Mid-Season Report)

CSKA Moscow’s impressive young defenceman Alexander Romanov. (Image Source)

A couple of months ago, we took a look here at the KHL’s interesting rules on the use of junior-age skaters (to recap, ever-so-briefly: KHL teams get two extra lineup spots per game to be used for skaters in the U20 category, although there’s a lot more to it than that). Now, with half a season’s worth of data in the books, it’s time to take a look and see how teams are making use of those rules. Which teams tossing their young skaters into the KHL fray with wild abandon, and which are taking the more conservative and restrained approach to development? And who are these young players anyway? Read on, as we start by casting the eye over the situations at CSKA, Dinamo Minsk, Lokomotiv, Sochi, Torpedo, and Vityaz…