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The 2025/2026 KHL is officially over, with the tradition closing ceremony taking place last week. Here’s your recap of all the prizes handed out there, plus news of a long-serving import leaving his club and the transfer window opening today.

KHL.ru highlights the nominees for the Best Coach award—for the 2025–2026 season, the nominees are Anvar Gatiyatulin (Ak Bars), Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulaev), and Andrei Razin (Metallurg).

Canada’s Byron Froese, USA’s record-breaking Mitchel Miller, and Slovakia’s Martin Gernat and Richard Panik headline a championship cast that powered Lokomotiv’s second straight Gagarin Cup and closed the season with history written in gold. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.

The KHL season came to a spectacular end on Thursday, with Lokomotiv completing a successful defense of the Gagarin Cup. And, after beating Ak Bars, the Yaroslavl club continued the celebrations at the weekend when the juniors won the Kharlamov Cup.

The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the 2026 Gagarin Cup playoffs’ final round in four categories.

A 3-2 victory in Kazan in game six seals back-to-back championships for Lokomotiv Yaroslav. Two goals from Yegor Surin and another from Maxim Shalunov secured the decisive victory for Bob Hartley’s men, settling the series against Ak Bars.

Lokomotiv arrives in Kazan with the Gagarin Cup within touching distance after a commanding Game Five victory, while Ak Bars faces a win-or-go-home showdown on home ice as it tries to extend the series and force a decisive Game Seven.

A quickfire double blast midway through the game helped Lokomotiv to victory in game five of the Gagarin Cup final. The defending champion is now up 3-2 in the series and can wrap things up in Kazan on Thursday.

After splitting the first four games, Lokomotiv and Ak Bars head into a pivotal Game Five in Yaroslavl with the Gagarin Cup Finals tied at 2-2. Ak Bars regained momentum thanks to Alexander Chmelevski’s decisive goal in Kazan, but Lokomotiv now returns home with a chance to move one win away from the trophy in front of its fans.

Four games played, two wins apiece. Ak Bars and Lokomotiv look set to serve up another cup final for the ages. Read on for the inside track on the climactic battle of the season.

Alexander Chmelevski’s goal midway through the third period snapped a 1-1 tie in game four. The Ak Bars forward sends the 2026 Gagarin Cup Final series back to Yaroslavl locked at 2-2.

Gagarin Cup Final shifts into Game Four in Kazan with Ak Bars now under real pressure after Lokomotiv’s composed Game Three performance moved the defending champions to within one win of the title. With the series at 2–1 for the visitors, the home side will be aiming to respond and level things up, while Lokomotiv look to take another step toward closing out the championship.

The defending champion took the verdict as the Gagarin Cup final moved to Kazan for game three. First period goals from Maxim Beryozkin and Richard Panik paved the way for a 3-1 victory, putting Lokomotiv up 2-1 in the series.

Mitchell Miller’s hat-trick and four-point performance powered Ak Bars to a dominant Game Two victory in Yaroslavl, tying the Gagarin Cup finals at one apiece as the series now heads to Kazan, where Lokomotiv will look to regain control in a pivotal Game Three.

Radulov’s leadership, Beryozkin’s timely scoring and Isayev’s strong play in net helped Lokomotiv draw first blood in the Gagarin Cup finals, but Ak Bars now heads into Game Two looking for a response before the series shifts to Kazan.

The opening day of the Gagarin Cup final brought victory for Lokomotiv. Two goals in a minute early in the second period paved the way for a 3-1 success for the defending champion.

This is what it all comes down to – the 2026 Gagarin Cup final starts in Yaroslavl today. The match-up between Lokomotiv and Ak Bars is rich in sub-plots, as the Railwaymen look to defend their title against an opponent seeking a record-breaking fourth crown.

Lokomotiv enters its third consecutive Gagarin Cup finals, this time facing Ak Bars in a repeat of the first-ever finals back in 2009. The Railwaymen needed two OTs in Game Seven against Avangard to get there, while the Kazan side handed a 4-1 defeat to regular-season champions, Metallurg. Ak Bars is currently tied with CSKA and Metallurg for the most Gagarin Cup titles with three apiece, and now has the opportunity to become the competition’s outright most successful franchise with a fourth championship. Lokomotiv, meanwhile, is chasing its second title after last year’s triumph.

Gernat’s defensive reliability in decisive moments, Todd’s timely scoring presence and Jaskin’s consistent all-situations impact all proved decisive in their teams’ passage through the semifinals. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.

The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the 2026 Gagarin Cup playoffs’ third round in four categories.

Last week confirmed the first of this year’s Gagarin Cup finalists, while the second series remains tight. Elsewhere, another KHL player celebrated a move to the NHL.

Ak Bars is going back to the Gagarin Cup final for the sixth time after winning its semi-final series against Metallurg in five games. That equals the record for final appearance, first set by CSKA. Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men will face the winner of the Lokomotiv vs Avangard series when the grand final gets underway on May 11.

Ak Bars heads back to Magnitogorsk holding a commanding 3-1 lead in the series and sitting just one victory away from a return to the Gagarin Cup Final, while Metallurg faces a must-win situation on home ice after back-to-back losses in Kazan put the regular-season champion on the brink of elimination.

Ak Bars made it back-to-back 4-1 home victories over Metallurg to open a 3-1 lead in the Gagarin Cup semi-final series. Two goals in 66 seconds late in the second period opened a decisive lead for Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men.

Ak Bars seized control of the series with a convincing home victory in Game Three and now has a chance to move within one win of the final, while Metallurg looks for a much stronger response to avoid falling into a dangerous 3-1 deficit.

Two goals in the first period from Dmitry Katelevsky proved to be the catalyst for an Ak Bars victory in game three of its Gagarin Cup semi-final series against Metallurg. The Tatar club moves in front 2-1 in the series against the regular season champion.

Metallurg responded to its opening loss with an impressive Game Two performance behind a three-point outing from Roman Kantserov, tying the series before the action shifts to Kazan, where Ak Bars will try to regain home-ice momentum.

A 4-2 home victory saw Metallurg draw level in its 2026 Gagarin Cup semi-final series against Ak Bars. The Steelmen led 3-0 at the second intermission but the visitor clawed two goals back in the third before Nikita Mikhailis put the game out of reach late on.

For the first time ever, the opening games in the Gagarin Cup semi-finals went to the visiting teams. Avangard and Ak Bars enjoyed 5-2 wins at Lokomotiv and Metallurg respectively. The Hawks followed up with a second victory in Yaroslavl – can Ak Bars do the same in Magnitogorsk today?

A powerful first period saw Ak Bars take control of the opening game of its 2026 Gagarin Cup semi-final series against Metallurg. The visitor took a 5-2 verdict at the regular season champion to enjoy an early advantage in the series.

History hangs in the balance as Metallurg and Ak Bars open their semifinal series—past meetings have swung both ways, from Ak Bars’ second-round wins in 2010 and 2018 to Metallurg’s dominant 2017 sweep, but today’s clash signals a fresh battle between two in-form contenders.

Commentator for KHL TV channels and expert at KHL.ru, Anton Vasyatin, presents the top ten most prominent young players (U23) in the league based on their performance in the second round of the Gagarin Cup playoffs.

We’re down to the last four in the race for the Gagarin Cup after wrapping up round two swiftly last week. Two teams swept into the semis, the other two series were done in five games. That sets up some mouthwatering encounters when action resumes Friday.

The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the 2026 Gagarin Cup playoffs’ second round in four categories.

Two goals in the last three minutes were not enough for Dinamo Minsk to save the game or the series as Ak Bars moves into the 2026 Gagarin Cup semi-finals.

Metallurg and Ak Bars stand on the brink of a sweep as both series continue on the road, with Torpedo and Dinamo Minsk facing elimination and in urgent need of a response to keep their seasons alive and force the series back to Magnitogorsk and Minsk.

The second round of Gagarin Cup playoff action has seen great goaltending in Yaroslavl, thrilling finishes in Minsk, and vital scoring streaks for Avangard and Metallurg. Along the way, Andrei Stas became the fifth man to play 1,000 KHL games. And in the juniors, the first round of the playoffs produced the JHL’s longest-ever game.

Metallurg aims to tighten its grip on the series as the action shifts to Nizhny Novgorod, with Torpedo hoping home ice can spark a response, while Ak Bars heads back to Kazan looking to build on its momentum after two dramatic wins over Dinamo Minsk as the series changes cities.

A pulsating game in Minsk saw the teams trade goals in the last 70 seconds of regulation to tie 4-4. Dinamo had recovered from 1-3 to lead on 58:50, but allowed a late equalizer before falling to Nathan Todd in the extras.

Metallurg looks to build on a narrow Game One win despite Torpedo’s fightback, while Dinamo Minsk aims to respond on home ice after dropping the opener to Ak Bars in a tightly contested series opener in front of a packed Minsk Arena.