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In the first week of signings, several international players found themselves a new home, with CSKA claiming two newcomers.

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 takes a closer look at the nominees for the Golden Stick award — the shortlist following the 2025-2026 regular season includes Sam Anas (Dinamo Minsk), Damir Sharipzyanov (Avangard), and Vladimir Tkachyov (Metallurg).

KHL TV commentator Anton Vasyatin takes an in-depth look at the nominees for the Alexei Cherepanov Award, presented annually to the league’s top rookie. Following the 2025-2026 season, the award contenders are Alexander Zharovsky, Matvei Polyakov, and Mikhail Fyodorov. For the first time in four seasons, the list of nominees consists exclusively of forwards.

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).

KHL.ru presents the finalists for the Alexei Cherepanov award, whose recipient is the top rookie of the 2025-2026 season.

KHL.ru presents the finalists for the Golden Stick award – the trophy for the most valuable player of the 2025-2026 KHL regular season.

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.

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.

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?

Ak Bars seized the initiative with a commanding Game One road win, but with Metallurg’s goaltending under scrutiny and the regular season champions eager to respond, Game Two sets up a pivotal test as Magnitka look to level the series on home ice.

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.

Fiore’s timely scoring, Barach’s reliability, Press stepping up again and Panik’s understated impact all proved key in the latest playoff matchups. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.

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.

An overtime victory over Torpedo saw Metallurg finish its second-round series in five games. The Steelmen progress to the semi-finals, where they will start at home to Eastern Conference rival Ak Bars on March 25. The other match-up sees Lokomotiv take on Avangard.

Torpedo kept their playoff hopes alive with an overtime escape in Game Four, battling back from a slow start, but Metallurg returns to Magnitogorsk with a chance to close out the series and avoid a sixth game.

Down 0-2 at the start of the third, it looked like Torpedo’s season was coming to an end. But a big fightback tied the game before Yegor Vinogradov’s power play goal sent the series back to Magnitogorsk for a fifth game on Friday.

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.

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.

Torpedo recovered from 0-2 in the first period of its playoff second round opener in Magnitogorsk. But the outsider could not force an upset against the regular season champ, falling 4-3.

Fresh matchups headline the second round, as Dinamo Minsk and Ak Bars face off in the playoffs for the first time ever, while Metallurg and Torpedo renew a rivalry not seen since their lone postseason meeting back in 2009, adding a rare sense of novelty to the KHL bracket.

Round 1 of the playoffs is done. From eight series, we saw one sweep and one pair go to six games. But every contest produced drama and special moments, with a sprinkling of KHL records along the way.

Fucale’s consistency in goal and Press’ impact from the blue line highlight the opening round’s standout international performers, alongside other key contributors across the playoffs. 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’ first round in four categories.

Daniil Vovchenko and Nikolai Prokhorkin scored the vital goals as two more KHL playff first-round series came to an end on Wednesday. Vovchenko got the only goal of the game as Metallurg edged a 1-0 verdict over Sibir. Then Prokhorkin tied Avangard’s game against Nefetkhimik with just eight seconds to play before potting the winner in overtime. Both winning teams completed their series in five games.

After the first verdicts, more series could reach their conclusion, with Avangard, Metallurg, and reigning champion Lokomotiv all holding 3–1 leads over Neftekhimik, Sibir, and Spartak respectively, each one win away from advancing, while their opponents look to stay alive and force a return game.

Sibir needed almost five full period to find the opening goal of its game against Metallurg – but Anton Kosolapov’s snipe on 99:59 earned a 1-0 victory to keep that series alive. Magnitka, up 3-1, will look to finish it in Magnitogorsk on Wednesday. Eastern Conference second seed Avangard is also one home win away from round two after a 5-2 success at Neftekhimik put it up 3-1 in the series.

One week into post season, and all 16 teams are still in the Gagarin Cup race. We’ve seen competitive, exciting hockey in every series – and we might see our first qualifiers advance later today.