Torpedo review: entertaining but ineffective
KHL.ru continues its review of the 2021-2022 season. For Torpedo, this was another season of attacking hockey under David Nemirovsky. The team had more shots on goal than any other, but struggled to turn that into sufficient goals and ultimately missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
Last summer, Torpedo’s management put plenty of work into ensuring they were covered for some anticipated departures among the forwards. In the event, it turned out that there were no significant departures and Nemirovsky found himself with a solid — possibly even overheated — core of forwards. Paradoxically, this reduced the team’s scoring power: for the first time in four years, Torpedo scored fewer than 2.5 goals per game. That was down to so-called “secondary scoring” — goals from outside the top line almost dried up. The first trio of Agostino, Miele and Zhafyarov was the second most effective in the KHL, improving on the Chekhovich-Miele-Zhafyarov combination of 2020-2021, but there was far less happening among the supporting cast. Thus, although the team had no equal in terms of shot on goal (1,614), only Admiral and Amur had a lower conversion rate than Torpedo’s 7.25%.
Games going into overtime were also a problem: of eight encounters that went past the 60-minute mark, Torpedo won just one, the worst return in the competition. As a result, Nemirovsky’s team finished in ninth place in the Western Conference, missing out on a playoff place.
Top players
45 (18+27) points in 47 games
Zhafyarov fell just short of the standards he set last season, when he went at more than a point a game (61 in 58). This term, he had an 11-game productive streak, matching a club record, and climbed to third place for goals and assists during Torpedo’s time in the KHL. He also joined the elite list of players who have scored on every team to take part in the KHL.
36 (13+23) points in 47 games
Zhafyarov’s success (and that of Kenny Agostino) owes much to the hockey IQ of their center, Miele. Alongside Damir, he also set off in pursuit of that club record productive streak — and also equalled it. Tellingly, although Miele was slightly behind Zhafyarov in terms of total passes attempted, he was well ahead in terms of accuracy. Sadly, there’s no statistic to measure the danger created by those passes, but based on visual observation Andy would be out of sight by that measure.
27 (9+18) points in 40 games
Lennstrom arrived to replace Chris Wideman, the top-scoring defenseman of the 2020/21 season. Theodor couldn’t repeat Chris’s numbers but did everything that could be asked of a two-way D-man. He had more game time than any other Torpedo player (22:12 per game). The positive impression made by Lennstrom’s game was only spoiled by his reluctance to return to the league to see out his contract.
Coaching
David Nemirovsky took charge of Torpedo in 2018 and his style was attacking to the point of being gung-ho. Throughout those four years, Torpedo was one of the most watchable teams, something that always earned the favor of neutrals. That, of course, led to a steady rise in expectations and each year came with hopes of a breakthrough. However, three first-round exits were followed by worse in his fourth campaign. In March, rumors suggested that Nemirovsky would leave Nizhny Novgorod; in April his contract was officially terminated. However, even without much improvement in the team’s results, Torpedo’s fans are likely to remember David’s time at the club fondly.
Best game
In early December Torpedo went to CSKA with just one win in its previous five games. The opposition, meanwhile, was on a five-game winning streak. Agostino opened the scoring after just 13 seconds and the lead grew to 3-0 by the first intermission. The host hit back, making it a one-goal game, but Miele and Agostino (both off Zhafyarov assists) rebuilt that three-goal advantage.
Young players
Ivan Chekhovich was one of the rising stars in 2020-2021 and he kept up that performance this season. However, he was rotated away from the top line, with predictable consequences for his scoring. Pyotr Kochetkov performed at a reliable level and it’s possible that if Nemirovsky had seen him as the first choice goalie from the start of the season, Torpedo would have made the playoffs. Sergei Goncharuk looked impressive in pre-season but injury slowed his progress. Brothers Ilya and Maxim Fedotov didn’t look out of place in the first team and they should get more of a role in the near future.
Summer activity
Hockey legend Igor Larionov takes over from Nemirovsky, settling into his first coaching role in club hockey. The Professor’s debut won’t be easy: he comes into a team looking to replace its first-choice goalie (Kochetkov), leading two-way defenseman (Lennstrom), top stay-at-home D-man (Yegor Martynov) and six of the seven forwards who tallied 10+ points (Zhafyarov, Miele, Marek Hrivik, Chekhovich, Artur Tyanulin and Daniel Zaar). The seventh, Agostino, is still under contract but it is not clear whether he will return in the current circumstances.
Thus, Torpedo needs a serious refurbishment in all areas. Ziyat Paigin’s return from Sweden is a boost, although its not exactly a reinforcement given that he played here last season. The most notable new forward is Nikolai Kovalenko from Ak Bars. Several more are on try-out contracts, including an intriguing Japanese prospect, Yu Sato, who learned his hockey in Moscow as a schoolboy with Krylya Sovietov before playing in Finland, Canada and the USA.
