Sibir season preview: moving forward

Sibir had an inconsistent showing last term: a poor start was replaced by a strong, but not very entertaining game in the middle of the regular season; and in the playoffs there was a stubborn but short-lived resistance to Salavat Yulaev. Now it seems that the side is shifting to a more attacking model. KHL.ru continues its preview of the coming campaign in Novosibirsk.

Last season

Novosibirsk had a poor start to the last campaign, losing many precious points at the start, leaving them out of the playoff zone for almost half of the regular season. Their offense looked particularly poor: goals were hard to come by; for example, only three goals were scored in five games at the end of September. Things gradually improved, and in late October Sibir had a successful two-week stretch, winning eight of nine games, including victories over Traktor, CSKA, and Ak Bars. Those early struggles were behind the team’s shoulders. The Novosibirsk club then had a positive November and December before losing momentum in January. By that time, however, they had firmly established themselves in the top eight of the Eastern Conference and were much closer to fighting for fifth place in the East standings than to keeping their place in the playoffs (there was no question about that at all). In the end, they captured the sixth seed, which, considering their perspectives before the start of the season, was probably better than they expected.
In the playoffs, Sibir showed stubborn resistance to Salavat Yulaev, but no more than that.

Roster

Departures

Goalie: Arseny Akhmetov, Avangard;

Defensemen: Konstantin Alexeyev, Denis Bodrov, Maxim Goncharov;

Forwards: Viktor Komarov, Alexei Kruchinin, Torpedo, JC Lipon, Straubing (DEL), Oleg Li, Avtomobilist, Yegor Milovzorov.

Arrivals

Goalie: Denis Kostin, Dynamo St. Petersburg (VHL), RFA;

Defensemen: Denis Alexandrov, SKA (trade), Artyom Chmykhov, Severstal, (trade through CSKA), Ilya Pastukhov, Yugra (VHL), Alexei Solovyov, Viktovice (Czechia);

Forwards: Taylor Beck, Dinamo Minsk, Vladimir Butuzov, Amur, Anton Nazarevich, Dynamo Moscow (trade), Vyacheslav Osnovin, Traktor.

If taking out the imports who left Sibir early, the only key loss is Oleg Li, who started last season as the team’s captain, but then relinquished that role. The additions to Novosibirsk seem to make up for all of their losses right now. The signing of Taylor Beck is a definite plus, and a big one. So was extending the contracts of half a dozen hockey players, most of whom are solid and important core players.

Coaching

After Avtomobilist, from which Andrei Martemyanov was fired after losing in the playoffs to Sibir, he had to deal with a fundamentally different selection of players. The attempt to transfer the Yekaterinburg model to Novosibirsk led to a failure at the start of the regular season, and in October, the coach actually teetered on the brink of resigning. He managed to reverse this very difficult situation in a short time, sacrificing offensive actions and achieving efficiency. It’s expected that in the future, under Martemyanov’s leadership, Sibir will be able to improve in the first area without losing the second.

Goalies

For three years, Harri Sateri was one of Sibir’s leaders, but already last season, Anton Krasotkin looked not much worse than him (playoffs, except for one game, aren’t took in consideration) and at times much better. Anton is considered a more likely candidate for the starting goalie spot, but not a guaranteed one: he will be actively supported by Denis Kostin, who played in the KHL for Avangard and Torpedo by the age of 27, but without much success; and last season he shined in Dynamo St. Petersburg, becoming VHL’s top goalie in saving percentage.

Defense

All of the team’s defensive leaders, except Denis Bodrov (well, and Jyrkki Jokipakka), remained — all the retained d-men spent 18 minutes or more on the ice. In addition to the rest, Nikita Yefremov, Yegor Alanov, and Timur Akhiyarov have room to grow; after gaining experience in the Czech Republic and becoming the best sniper among defensemen in Viktovice, Alexey Solovyov will try to establish himself in the KHL for the second time.

Offense

As mentioned above, Novosibirsk did well last season, but not particularly brilliantly; they were only ahead of Kunlun, Amur, Dinamo Riga, and Admiral in terms of scoring. Signing Taylor Beck, a great sniper in five-on-five hockey who becomes an even better passer on the power play, would clearly improve that situation. Vyacheslav Osnovin is ready to play a more prominent role than he was assigned to in the stellar Traktor lineup; Vladimir Butuzov should also add some spice to the Sibir attack. Together with Alexander Sharov, Valentin Pyanov, and Anton Scenfeld, Martemyanov should have at his disposal two good offensive units. Anton Nazarevich, who averaged a little less than a point per game last season in the VHL, can also make his way in. A very skilled defensive unit is also available.

Youngsters

20-year-old Nikita Yefremov was second only to Ilya Morozov in terms of blocked shots (52 in 33 games). He was then sent to the JHL, but he took the role of an offensive defenseman: he joined the rush and shot a lot, scored, distributed assists (he also blocked shots). Last season he played an average of 14 or fewer minutes per game and now he’s presumably ready for more. Another defenseman, Yegor Alanov, a year older, scored once in 31 games in the regular season and that was his only point. And then in the playoffs he scored twice against Salavat Yulayev. Ilya Pastukhov is also 21 years old, a local player who lined up for Yugra in the VHL last season. In short, as of today, the Novosibirsk team’s main young hope is concentrated on defense. Sergei Dubakin and possibly Yegor Spiridonov should be took in mind as forwards, but they’ll have fewer chances to prove themselves unless injuries plague Sibir’s offense.

Expectations

Judging by the transfer activity, it can be assumed that Novosibirsk plans to play more attacking hockey. It’s a bold decision, considering that “less attacking” hasn’t been a bad thing for them. The task of “how to bring something to the table without losing something else” is a difficult one. It will be all the more interesting to see how Martemyanov copes with it. Right now, it looks like Sibir won’t make it into the top four, but it won’t stay below the playoff line, either. As for their place in the bottom four and — even more interesting — their playoff performance, where Martemyanov hasn’t been doing too well so far (only eight wins in 24 games), it’s next to impossible to predict in August.