SKA 2021-2022: seven straight Conference finals and a record for Gusev
KHL.ru continues its review of the 2021-2022 season with a look at SKA. The Petersburg team set out to rejuvenate its roster this season, but that didn’t prevent it from finishing the regular season on top of the Western Conference. The playoffs followed a familiar pattern: SKA reached the Conference final before losing to CSKA.
SKA successfully adapted to the new realities required under the hard salary cap. Last summer saw the arrival of just one experienced star player, goalie Lars Johansson, as the club looked to ice a younger team. During the season, SKA added several more big names – Nikita Gusev, Mikko Lehtonen, Leo Komarov – but remained among the youngest line-ups in the league with an average age of 26 years and 175 days. Only Neftekhimik, Lokomotiv, Sochi and Severstal were younger.
With a younger roster, SKA was generally expected to drop down the Western Conference standings and before the season most pundits had them finishing in third or fourth – albeit before the signings of Gusev, Lehtonen and Komarov. In the event, SKA finished top of the West and went into the playoffs as the favorite to reach the cup final. However, the loss of Joonas Kemppainen after the first round had a greater impact than might have been expected and the top line lost its bite without him. Anton Burdasov and Andrei Kuzmenko were unable to find the same chemistry with any other center. SKA made it past Spartak in round two, despite scoring fewer goals over the course of the series (1-6, 2-1, 2-1, 2-1, 2-1). Petersburg also came close to stopping CSKA, leading the series 3-2 but scoring just one goal in the final two games. Thus, for the third season running (not counting the curtailed 2020 playoffs), SKA’s season ended in the Conference final. Since 2015, SKA has reached this stage in all seven completed seasons. Twice, it went on to win the Gagarin Cup; the other five campaigns were halted by CSKA.
Top players
67 (27+40) points in 61 games
Since the start of his career, Kuzmenko has enjoyed unbroken progress, scoring more and more points with each passing season. Last term, Andrei once again enjoyed a personal best and finished second only to Vadim Shipachyov in the KHL scoring race. Kuzmenko combines efficiency with flair: his skills and ability to pull of the unexpected regularly confound opponents and thrill spectators.
50 games, 31 wins, 92.6% saves, nine shut-outs
Johansson’s GAA (1.78) was the best among goalies who played more than 10 games this season. His nine shut-outs also led the KHL, as did his run of 197:12 without allowing a goal. Lars also had the second longest goalless run – 194:36) and another sequence (145:49) made it into the top 10.
47 (17+34) points in 47 games
Gusev’s return gave SKA a powerful boost. He finished third in scoring on the team and his ppg average of 1.085 was third in the league behind Shipachyov and team-mate Kuzmenko. Nikita’s 19 minutes of game time led the way among SKA’s forwards, more than a minute ahead of his closest rival, Kemppainen. In addition, in the first action of post season, Gusev set a playoff record with six points in a game against Dinamo Minsk.
Coaching
For two third of the season (44 games), Valery Bragin was behind the bench, and he enjoyed 28 wins. After New Year, though, Bragin swapped roles with Roman Rotenberg. Rotenberg went on to win 14 out of 20 games as head coach. That’s a strong return for a coaching rookie: previously Roman Borisovich took charge of SKA for six games in 2020-2021, but that was in an interim position.
Best game
In November, SKA suffered a wobble and dropped from first to fourth place in the West. The revival came in early December, with wins over Dinamo Minsk and Jokerit at home, plus success on the road in Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk. Next came a trip to the overall KHL leader, Metallurg, the league’s top scorer. In Magnitogorsk, SKA confidently dominated the host in all areas of the game: two goals from three power plays, all four penalties successfully killed, and adding three more goals at equal strength to seal a 5-1 victory.
Young players
SKA boasts the most striking collection of youngsters in the league, from those who are already established to the next crop of emerging talent. Daniil Pylenkov falls into the first group, finishing the regular season as SKA’s most productive D-man (5+6) and ending the whole campaign with a +15 ranking. Up front, Marat Khusnutdinov made a bright start to the season and secured his role on the team even if he was unable to maintain his early pace. The most striking names in the second group are Matvei Michkov and Nikita Chibrikov, but this list could go on far longer. SKA’s system is not short of promising players getting action in the VHL and on two Junior Hockey League teams.
Summer activity
Nikita Gusev has yet to confirm his next move, but it seems increasingly likely that he will stay in Petersburg. The three biggest losses are Johansson, who returns to Sweden, Vancouver-bound Kuzmenko and Anton Burdasov, heading for Traktor. However, there are some solid acquisitions, especially on offense. Damir Zhafyarov arrives from Torpedo, Marat Khairullin from Neftekhimik and Nikolai Prokhorkin from Avangard. The D-core is reinforced with the signings of Andrei Pedan (Dynamo Moscow) and Mikhail Pashnin (Metallurg).
