A new era. Salavat Yulaev season preview

This season will mark 10 years since Salavat Yulaev won the Gagarin Cup — and for many in Ufa, that’s too a long wait for a repeat success. With a new head coach and the departure of a club legend over the summer, there are many changes afoot for the pride of Bashkortostan.

Last season

On the face of it, defeating last season’s Gagarin Cup finalist and advancing to the second stage of the playoffs represents a decent return for any team. Had the action continued, it’s possible that Salavat Yulaev might have matched — or even bettered — its run to the Conference final in 2019. But there were grounds for concern at times, especially during a regular season that was often unconvincing.

Salavat Yulaev came sixth in the East, involved in more of a battle than it would wish to secure a playoff place. For all the talent on display, consistent form was elusive. It was all too often a case of win one, lose one. There were some memorable highlights — a 9-1 thrashing of Dinamo Minsk, scoring five at CSKA, beating Ak Bars in Davos at the KHL World Games — but also too many struggles. Immediately after that 5-2 win over CSKA, for example, Salavat suffered a 1-5 reverse at Loko followed by a 1-4 loss at Avangard. Ultimately, that inconsistency saw Tsulygin leave the club.

Head coach

Tomi Lamsa is one of the youngest coaches in the game — but the 40-year-old from Lahti isn’t short of experience of life in Ufa. Lamsa first came to Salavat Yulaev in 2017 as assistant to Erkka Westerlund. That was the first foreign head coach at the club, but Westerlund only stayed for one season. Lamsa remained, working under Nikolai Tsulygin, and when the vacancy opened during the summer, he was quick to apply for the role.

Previously, Lamsa worked as head coach in the Finnish Liiga, with Jokerit and Pelicans. However, his playing career was short and undistinguished, never rising above the lower leagues in his homeland. With plenty of first-hand knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the current Salavat Yulaev roster, his new challenge is to produce a team that can get the results demanded by a management that expects to compete for the Gagarin Cup.

Key departures

Linus Omark left Ufa after five hugely successful seasons in which the Swede set scoring records and became a cult figure in Bashkortostan. Regularly picking up 50 points in a campaign, and providing the creative fulcrum for his team’s offense, he will be a hard man to replace after moving to Switzerland.

There are more significant departures on defense, where Mikhail Pashnin moves to Metallurg and Zakhar Arzamastsev heads to Avtomobilist. Pashnin, hugely experienced, had just one season in Ufa after joining from CSKA, while Arzamastsev joined the team in 2015 and matured into a solid KHL defenseman at the club.

Key arrivals

Markus Granlund is the big addition to the roster — but the Finn is quick to point out that he shouldn’t be seen as a straight swap for Omark. The 27-year-old brings 335 games of NHL experience from Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, where he compiled 101 points in regular season play. Rated as a competitive two-way forward, he might not have the same creative flair as Omark but he is perhaps a more reliable contributor behind the puck. Mikhail Vorobyov returns to Ufa after spell with Philadelphia; the 23-year-old was an emerging talent when he crossed the Atlantic and will be hoping to secure his reputation on his return.

Off-setting those defensive departures, ex-Metallurg man Evgeny Biryukov brings vast experience while 23-year-old Igor Myasishchev was a key component of the Zvezda team that topped its conference in the VHL last term.

Star player

Teemu Hartikainen is the fans’ favorite in Ufa — and his stats tell the story. Since joining the club in 2013, he’s scored 324 (141+183) points in 457 games, overtaking Alexander Radulov’s scoring records in the process. He’s already the leading goalscorer for Ufa in the KHL and needs just 14 more points to overtake Omark’s scoring record.

The affection isn’t just from the fans. Hartikainen was awarded with a medal from the local authorities for his services to sport in the region. And, whether scoring goals or swapping tips on good spots for fishing, he’s happy to reciprocate the warmth with which he’s been received in Ufa. “The city is good and we like it as a family,” he told KHL.ru during the summer. “The fans are great and the organization is really good. There’s a European style to it, we have a nice relationship with the GM and the coaches. We can talk about things. Those are probably the biggest reasons we’ve stayed. Of course, it’s not always easy ... to play in one club and one city. The routines are the same and everyone knows you. Your level has to be kept the same all the time.”

Expectations

As a head coach, Lamsa is an unknown quantity — notwithstanding a big endorsement from his compatriot Hartikainen. However, promoting from within is nothing new for Salavat Yulaev; that’s how Tsulygin got the post previously. The previous two seasons highlight the best and worst of that strategy, with the team sometimes appearing directionless in regular season but putting up a strong performance in the 2019 playoffs.

Lamsa’s tasks is to improve upon that. Greater consistency in regular season is a must to satisfy the club’s management, while a strong playoff campaign is also expected. Can the new head coach deliver? There are some promising signs, with a Soshnikov-Granlund-Hartikainen line showing early potential in pre-season. But there are also questions about a reshaped defense that needs to be capable of helping the ever-impressive Juha Metsola to frustrate the opposition.