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A tale of two legends — the KHL week in review
Two KHL legends announced their return – one on the ice, the other off it. Elsewhere, the trade frenzy continues, and the KHL might get to welcome its first Mexican-born player.
Radulov on target
Alexander Radulov’s return to the KHL is one of the big stories of the summer. With pre-season now underway, the star forward wasted little time getting back to what he does best. The much-titled forward, newly arrived at Ak Bars this summer, scored twice on his first appearance for his new club. Radulov’s return was the big talking point as Oleg Znarok took his star-studded roster to Neftyanik for a warm-up game. And it was a strong start all round as Ak Bars won 6-1 on Saturday, before moving on to beat Neftekhimik 4-1 the next day with a much-changed team.
Radulov scores on Ak Bars debut
Mozyakin returns to Metallurg
KHL legend Sergei Mozyakin is back in the league. Now, though, Russia’s all-time leading goalscorer is passing on his skills to future generations.
Mozyakin, who retired at the end of the 2020-2021 season, is returning as Metallurg’s director of hockey development. The 41-year-old’s new role involves working with coaches and management at the club’s hockey school and helping promising young players through the system. As a Metallurg player, Mozyakin won two Gagarin Cup and a host of individual awards. He remains the KHL’s all-time scoring leader with 928 (419+509) points and, including his Russian Superleague career, is the most productive player in Russian or Soviet championship play. Although his career in North America was limited to a handful of junior games, he also won two World Championships and Olympic gold in 2018.
Red Star announces first signings
Kunlun Red Star kept everyone waiting, then announced a flurry of signings over the weekend. The league’s Chinese franchise is noted for taking its time over unveiling its new roster but on Sunday things began to take shape. Franchise player Luke Lockhart signed a three-year term, and there are returns for Cliff Pu, Jake Chelios and Jason Fram.
New additions include goalie Matt Jurusik, two-time Calder Cup-winning defenseman Vincent LoVerde, and Canadian forward Jack Rodewald. The latter spent last season on the same team as Slovak wunderkind Juraj Slafkovsky in Finland.
And there is the potential for some hockey exotica: Kris Afanasyev, a 19-year-old forward on a try-out contract, could become the first KHL player born in Mexico if he makes the grade at the Dragons.
Two new imports for Amur
Andrew Calof is back in the KHL. The Canadian forward previously played here for Torpedo and Traktor. Now he’s signed a one-year deal at Amur. Between 2018 and 2020, Calof played 120 games and compiled 76 (30+46) points. Last year he was in Sweden, and had 13 (5+8) points in 35 games for Vaxjo Lakers.
Amur also signed Canadian defenseman Cam Lee. The 25-year-old West Michigan graduate spent the last two years in the AHL with the Penguins organization. He also played a spell on loan at former KHL club Slovan Bratislava during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
One in, one out at Barys
Dynamo Moscow acquired Swedish forward Jakob Lilja from Barys. He spent two seasons in Kazakhstan, scoring 66 (39+27) points in 117 games. Last season he was third in team scoring in Nur-Sultan. Meanwhile, Canadian defenseman Chris Bigras is heading to Kazakhstan to join Barys. The 28-year-old broke into the NHL with the Avalanche, but his last game in that league was during the 2017-2018 season. Last year he featured on the Chicago Wolves roster that went on to win the Calder Cup and early in his career he won World U18 gold with team Canada.
French D-man goes to Neftekhimik
French defenseman Yohann Auvitu joined Neftekhimik on a one-year deal. The 33-year-old, who played in the NHL with Edmonton and New Jersey, previously played in the KHL at Sochi in 2018-2019. After that, he had spells in Sweden and Finland, where he recently helped Team France secure its top division status at the World Championship after Les Bleus replaced Russia for the 2022 edition.
This week’s action
Tuesday sees the conclusion of the Liga Stavok Sochi Hockey Open, with Avangard and SKA battling for top spot. Both teams won three of their first four games, but Avangard got the head-to-head verdict with a 3-1 victory in Sunday’s match-up. The Hawks will take the title with victory over Admiral in their final game on Tuesday. Any slip-up would allow SKA to lift the cup with a win over Russia U25s. Host club HC Sochi faces Dinamo Minsk looking to secure its first victory in this year’s event.
The coming week also sees Magnitogorsk host the Ramazan Memorial tournament, featuring Metallurg, Traktor, Avtomobilist and Amur. In Ufa, the Republic of Bashkortostan Cup involves Salavat Yulaev, Lokomotiv, Severstal and Dynamo Moscow.
