Staying at the top. Barys season preview

Last year, Barys was one of the best teams in the league, finishing the season as the Eastern Conference’s second seed. However, the pandemic halted its playoffs run, and it’s now unknown whether they could keep the pace. One of the key figures behind Barys’ success — its head coach Andrei Skabelka — left Kazakhstan and joined Lokomotiv. Will Barys be able to build on Skabelka’s path and top its division again?

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Last season

The 2019-2020 campaign was the best ever for the Kazakh franchise, topping the Chernyshev division with a one-point gap over Avangard and allowing only 137 goals. The Nur-Sultan side started off well with a victory in the preseason’s Cup of the President of Kazakhstan over Avtomobilist, Ak Bars, Salavat Yulaev, and Neftekhimik.

The team led by Corban Knight and Roman Starchenko — and Darren Dietz on defense — had an impressive showing, and in the playoffs got easily rid of Metallurg with a 4-1 score in the series. However, it was also the season when Team Kazakhstan failed to qualify for the 2022 Olympic Games, which caused Andrei Skabelka to refuse further working with the national team and, ultimately, leaving Nur-Sultan.

Head coach

As the Belarussian bench boss Andrei Skabelka left the team, the franchise had several domestic and international options. However, the choice fell on Yuri Mikhaillis, which will be at his debut in the KHL.

Mikhailis’ advantage will be his in-depth knowledge of Kazakhstani hockey, and — naturally — having worked with most of the local players at some point of their development, since he worked uncountable years within the Barys system with different roles. Most recently, Mikhailis — who is the father of Nikita, one of the team’s top forwards — coached Barys’ farm team in the VHL. His son Nikita Mikhailis is one of the frontmen for the Kazakh team.

Key departures

While the most crucial loss may be the departure of Andrei Skabelka, it should be noted that Barys also lost three critical players in Ed Pasquale and Atte Ohtamaa — who joined Skabelka in Yaroslavl — and Corban Knight, who signed with Avangard. Iiro Pakarinen, who didn’t show his best hockey in Nur-Sultan with only four goals, moved North and joined Jokerit. Last year’s top scorer, Knight, signed with Avangard.

Key arrivals

If things go as expected, Swedish forward Jakob Lilja can become a force for the Kazakh side. Gifted with excellent skating abilities and incredible work ethic, Lilja played 37 games in the NHL last year with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and another 22 for their affiliate in the AHL. The 27-years-old is not a pure scorer, but his versatility and all-around abilities can play a crucial role for Barys in its playoffs quest.

Moreover, the fans will be delighted to welcome back Matt Frattin. The Canadian scorer will play his third season with Barys, after playing with Ak Bars the last time around. In two seasons, Frattin scored 37 goals wearing the Barys jersey. To give Henrik Karlsson a break between the piping, Barys has signed Joni Ortio. The Finnish netminder, who played with Vityaz in the 2018-2019 season, spent the last campaign in Switzerland with ZSC.

Star player

In the post-Dallman era, Barys was quick to find a substitute in Darren Dietz. The native of Alberta captained Barys last year, and scored 32 (11+21) points in 54 games. One year before, he had 53 and made the first All-Star Team. However, the two-time All-Star showed his worth in the playoffs, scoring the most goals for Barys in the series against Metallurg.

The 2020-2021 campaign will be the fourth for the D-man, who represents Kazakhstan on the international stage since 2019. He will be called to lead a defensive corp that will be guarding the crease without Maxim Semyonov. The veteran called it a career this summer and joined Barys’ hockey operations staff.

Expectations

Barys was one of the league’s top teams last year, and the club did all the steps needed to retain this position. However, the team suffered several major losses, including the head coach. Skabelka played a key role in Barys’ performance and it will be tough for Mikhailis to be his successor, especially so as he has no experience at the helm of a team at the KHL level.

With that being said, Barys will feature a deep roster with reliable imports and a good clutch of domestic players led by Roman Starchenko and Nikita Mikhailis. Most likely, the Kazakhs will be once again among the contenders in the Eastern Conference.