Dynamo season preview: new development strategy

In recent seasons, Dynamo has been up among the leading contenders but has failed to get beyond the second round of the playoffs. Given the expectations around the club, that wasn’t good enough. KHL.ru looks at how the management is looking for a fundamental change in direction this season, jettisoning the team’s best-paid players.

Last season

Dynamo had two very similar campaigns in the last two years, looking good in the regular season but failing to impress in the playoffs. For most teams in the KHL, regularly reaching the second round of the playoffs would be, at the very least, a satisfactory result. But not for Dynamo. The Blue-and-Whites twice struggled to get past Severstal, despite a clear gap in class between the two. Moreover, in the second campaign Dynamo had to recover from 0-2 before taking the series in game seven. On both occasions, the second round ended in a comprehensive loss — first against SKA, then against CSKA.

Roster

Departures

Goalies: Ivan Bocharov (Lokomotiv), Alexander Yeryomenko (retired), Ivan Kulbakov (Torpedo)

Defense: Anton Belov (Avangard), Slava Voynov (Ak Bars), Andrei Pedan (SKA), Andrei Sergeyev (Lokomotiv)

Forwards: Anton Wedin (Timra, SWE), Stanislav Galiyev (Ak Bars), Alexander Kisakov (Buffalo, NHL), Rob Klinkhammer (retired), Oscar Lindberg (Bern, SUI), Anton Nazarevich (Sibir), Alexander Petunin (Severstal), Artyom Fyodorov (SKA), Vadim Shipachyov (Ak Bars)

Arrivals

Goalies: Konstantin Volkov (Assat, FIN), Ilya Konovalov (Edmonton, NHL)

Defense: Roman Abrosimov (try-out), Kirill Gotobets (Avangard), Anton Malyshev (Lokomotiv), Yegor Martynov (Torpedo)

Forwards: Ilya Kablukov (Avangard), Vladislav Kodola (Severstal), Pavel Kudryavtsev (Lokomotiv), Jakob Lilja (Barys), Alexander Skorenov (SKA), Maxim Sushko (Lehigh Valley, AHL), Jordan Weal (Ak Bars)

A year ago Dynamo faced heavy losses, which the club’s management did well to address. The transfer campaign focused heavily on offense and even defenseman Slava Voynov contributed at the other end. However, goaltending remained a problem. For some reason, the Muscovites never really resolved this, neither in the summer nor during the course of the season. That contributed to a weak showing in the playoffs.
Now Dynamo’s directors face a more fundamental challenge than merely replacing the first-choice goalie. The new plan started from a need to unload the club’s high earners. That part of the task was not hard to complete, even if it remains unclear how effective the new approach will be. Dynamo parted companies with two goalies (one of whom retired) and two full lines. Moreover, almost every departing player would be capable of holding a place on the top line of most KHL teams. There are some interesting new additions, and now it is up to the coaching staff to find a way of making this rebuild work.

Coaching

Alexei Kudashov previously worked with Atlant, Lokomotiv and SKA. Each club came with a different level of expectation, but he was almost always working with one of the youngest rosters in any given season. Last season, Dynamo’s average age was almost exactly in the middle of the charts: 27.5 years was a little older than Kudashov is used to. Now there are only six over-30s, nobody over 35 and the average age is down to just over 25. That will almost certainly go down over the course of the season as various prospects get their chance on the team. It’s worth noting that, despite his young teams, Kudashov has won 232 of his 391 KHL games — at 59.34%, that’s close to the elite coaches.

Goaltending

Dynamo goes into the new season with a complete new goaltending stable. The battle for the starting role pits Ilya Konovalov against Konstantin Volkov. Both are returning from abroad. Konovalov, a two-time JHL champion (2016, 2018) spent last season in North America while Volkov, the JHL’s top goalie in 2017 and a VHL champion in 2021, was in Finland.

Defense

Although the most resonant departures affected the offense, and Dynamo managed to bring Andrei Mironov back to his first club, the defense looks like it might be more affected by the new club strategy. Newcomers Igor Martynov and Kirill Gotovets are experienced, competent players, but they are some way from matching the qualities of Voynov, Andrei Sergeyev, Andrei Pedan or Anton Belov. In addition, it’s a long time since Martynov was able to eat 20 minutes a game, and Gotovets has never consistently played that sort of game time. Roman Abrosimov, who came for a try-out, ultimately did not sign. It’s believed that the club is actively looking for an import defenseman but it’s no secret that there are few options on the market

Forwards

For the last four seasons, everything revolved around Vadim Shipachyov. In effect, he is an irreplaceable loss. Thus, apart from changing the club’s underlying strategies, Dynamo also needs to come up with a concrete new approach to its offense. It is assumed that the imports will play a big role. Eric O’Dell arguably owes the club after leaving during last year’s playoffs, Jakob Lilja arrives from Barys and Jordan Weal joins from Ak Bars and may be more consistent after a full season in this league. In warm-up games, they’ve looked good so far. In addition, Ilya Kablukov, 34, has shown that he is not just a good figure in the locker room and a helpful penalty killer, but can also support the power play. At times in pre-season, Dynamo has produced some head-spinning offense. Clearly, this will be hard to replicate in competitive games, even allowing for the KHL’s longest ever season, but at least it is clear that Kudashov is striving for an intriguing target.

Youngsters

It’s self-evident that parting company with established stars will generate more opportunities for young players. The shortages on defense should mean chances for 19-year-old Nikita Novikov to continue his progress. Others who should feature include Andrei Pribylsky, 21, and Anton Malyshev, a 22-year-old arrived from Lokomotiv. Two 20-year-olds, Vasily Machulin and Vitaly Budnitsky, are also close to the first team.

Up front, Dmitry Rashevsky is the great young hopeful. Last season he made a huge impact, not just on Dynamo but on the entire league. He has set the bar very high for himself and now he needs to prove that his success is not just flash in the pan. Bogdan Trineyev could be the next player to step up a level, while Vladislav Mikhailov and Andrei Nikonov are close to making the first team. And that’s not all: despite some notable departures over the past three years, Dynamo still has bright prospects in its system. With a coach who is used to nurturing young talent, the mid-term future looks genuinely encouraging.