Lokomotiv season preview: improving last year’s postseason performance

Last year’s performance wasn’t the best one for Lokomotiv, especially in the face of heightened expectations. Nevertheless, the Yaroslavl team didn’t go through a major rebuild, kept almost all of its leaders, and strengthened their position. KHL.ru continues its preview of the coming season with a look at how the Yaroslavl franchise can fare in the current campaign.

Last season

By the start of the 2021-2022 season, Yaroslavl emerged as the top favorite – at least in the West. Lokomotiv was already a contender, and the spotty summer acquisitions, coupled with the anticipated weakening of CSKA and SKA, pushed it to the top of the list. If the attack was considered the thinnest spot, the addition of Maxim Shalunov and Reid Boucher (two of the top sniper in the previous year’s Gagarin Cup playoffs) pushed Lokomotiv’s offense to a whole new level. Defense was already very good; the return of Alexander Yelesin should have made it even more reliable.

In theory, the revamped Lokomotiv had no weaknesses at all. But, as is sometimes the case, practice and theory ran contradictory. The Yaroslav side got off to a terrible start: just three wins in nine games, two of which came against the undisputed outsider, Dinamo Riga. The resignation of the head coach followed immediately: Andrei Skabelka was replaced by Igor Nikitin. That shook things up considerably for the team, which won seven of its next eight games (the only loss was to St. Petersburg, 0-1), but Lokomotiv’s further trip was typical of a middle-of-the-pack team (with four straight losses at the end of the regular season). In 29 of the 47 matches played by the Railwaymen, they and their opponents scored no more than five goals; in half of those games, they scored no more than three. Of all the Western teams, only HC Sochi and Dinamo Riga had a lower scoring rate.

In the playoffs, Lokomotiv, ranked sixth in the conference, fell to CSKA – Nikitin’s former team. Every single game in the series – especially game three, which ended in the fourth overtime – was hard-fought, but the final score (0-4) was disappointing for the Yaroslavl side.

Roster

Departures

Goalie: Eddie Pasquale (Barys);

Defensemen: Denis Barantsev (Avtomobilist), Brandon Gormley (HC Sochi), Anton Malyshev (Dynamo Moscow, trade);

Forwards: Artyom Anisimov, Mikhail Belyayev (Admiral, loan), Alexander Daryin (Torpedo, trade), Brandon Kozun (Dinamo Minsk), Pavel Kudryavtsev (Dynamo Moscow).

Arrivals

Goalie: Ivan Bocharov (Dynamo Moscow);

Defensemen: Roman Bychkov (Amur, end of loan), Andrei Sergeyev (Dynamo Moscow);

Forwards: Sergei Andronov (CSKA), Ivan Chekhovich (Torpedo, trade).

Almost all of the leaders whose contracts were expiring were retained by Yaroslavl. As for newcomers, with the exception of the goalie change, discussed below, the transfer campaign is very similar to last year: Lokomotiv added a defenseman and two forwards, all three of whom are very prominent figures in the KHL. The scale of those additions is not as great as it was last time around, but it’s virtually impossible to have two of the playoffs’ best scorers from two different teams transferring to a third team. For example, today it had to be Brendan Leipsic and either Mikhail Grigorenko or Konstantin Okulov.

Head coach

Igor Nikitin is one of the most effective coaches in the KHL history. In fact, with the exception of ten coaches who have played just one to three games and have a 100% winning percentage, only Vyacheslav Bykov is ahead of Nikitin with a 68.6% of victories against Nikitin’s 68.22%. That’s a negligible difference of four tenths, and it’s far from certain that had Vyacheslav played a hundred and fifty games more, his win percentage would have remained as high. That’s because the longer the history, the harder it is to keep the bar so high above the average. To be clear: among coaches with at least 400 games, Nikitin is first by a landslide. Then come Dmitry Kvartalnov (63.66%), Oleg Znarok (63%), Ilya Vorobyov (62.98%), and Zinetula Bilyaletdinov (61.96%). And that pretty much says it all.

Goalies

Edward Pasquale was considered one of Lokomotiv’s main trump cards, but the series against CSKA was played without him. In June, Pasquale’s contract was terminated (and he signed with Metallurg on the same day) and the Railwaymen relied on Dynamo Moscow’s Ivan Bocharov to replace him. Bocharov isn’t superior to Pasquale in anything (except that he’s cheaper), and the last two seasons haven’t gone well for him, to put it mildly. Ivan is expected to be tidied up in Yaroslavl by his longtime coach, Rashid Davydov. Another important factor is Nikitin-style hockey, in which the opponent’s number of well-placed shots is minimized, so his goaltenders, as a rule, won’t have too much work. Or they have to, but less often than others.

Defense

Another former Dynamo player, Andrei Sergeyev, is a great signing for the already good Lokomotiv defense. He can easily play more than 20 minutes per game; if necessary, he will play a tight defense, if necessary he will perform the fourth forward role; and, of course, he can move the puck along the blue line and distribute assists, or shot himself from the blue line (and can even make a hat trick, and in a playoff game, too). He is definitely better than the departed Denis Barantsev (or Brandon Gormley, who only played five games); all the other defensemen from last season are still in place.

Offense

Yegor Averin, Denis Alexeyev, Georgy Ivanov, Artur Kayumov, Yegor Korshkov, Pavel Kraskovsky, and Alexander Polunin signed new contracts, which is a big plus, because there were good chances of losing two or three of them. Compared to last season, the only missing piece is Boucher, who was released outright, and Artyom Anisimov, who will likely be back. Ivan Chekhovich, who came over from Torpedo, isn’t quite as good as Boucher yet, but he’s still a quality forward. Furthermore, Boucher’s level in the Nikitin system – and previously in the Skabelka’s one – wasn’t supernatural, so filling in that gap shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. And the captain of the Gagarin Cup triumphant CSKA and a distinctly Nikitin player, Sergei Andronov, will certainly strengthen the team both on the ice and in the locker room.

Youngsters

Yaroslavl has a great school, a great team in the JHL (now even two) and a lot of great young players. The vast majority of clubs would envy this situation, but at this stage, it doesn’t look like a decisive advantage for the Railwaymen. That’s not because of any flaws in their starting lineup, but because there are very few available roster spots. Given the increased number of games in the regular season, perhaps the Yaroslavl youth will have more chances. And the chances of 22-year-old Daniil Isayev, who is currently the second netminder, may increases Bocharov’s instability (while reducing the likelihood of signing a foreigner). On defense Daniil Misyul, 21, has in principle already won a spot in the lineup, but he’s not playing much and, frankly, not progressing; and 20-year-old Alexei Kozhevnikov is yet to debut at the KHL level, but in the JHL he was the most productive defenseman in the regular season. A fairly large group of interesting forwards is divided into two similar subgroups: some (e.g. Maxim Beryozhkin, Daniil Tesanov) appear in the lineup more or less frequently, but are equally rare on the ice. Others (Stepan Nikulin, Yaroslav Likhachyov) have shown themselves brightly in the JHL, but their debut in the KHL – like Kozhevnikov – is still waiting. In the waiting queue there’s also Daniil But, perhaps the most promising player of the bunch. He’s only 17 years old (the others listed are from 20 to 22). In short, Nikitin has the widest choice; it’s a matter of trust.

Expectations

It's interesting that Lokomotiv still does not have a single import player in its lineup. And, most likely, this is not a moratorium; surely there is a search for suitable candidates. First of all, the Railwaymen are probably looking for a goaltender, because for a contending team the tandem of Bocharov and Isayev looks a bit risky even in the regular season, let alone in the playoffs. Second, they’re probably looking for a winger, but the team could do without him – especially if Anisimov returns. In any case, Lokomotiv hasn’t gotten any weaker than last season, and last year’s performance clearly wasn’t in line with the roster. Anything less than a top-four finish in the West shouldn’t be expected.