Traktor season preview: two top scorers, but question marks on goal
In just three years, the Chelyabinsk franchise went from not making the playoffs to the conference finals and bronze medals. Six leading hockey players left the team this summer, which will seriously hamper further progression. KHL.ru continues previewing the upcoming campaign with a visit to the Southern Urals.
Last season
A year ago, the Chelyabinsk side became one of the main stirrers on the transfer market, having solidly strengthened both the defense and, especially, the offense. As a consequence, they acquired the status of favorites in the summer, and went through the regular season quite in line with that. They scored 71 points and lost first place – both in the East and in the overall standings – to Magnitogorsk only because they played one game more: that is, they scored a slightly lower percentage (72.45 vs. 73.96).
The long break before the playoffs held a negative impact on Traktor: despite making it to the conference finals, the road was rough. Even their 4-0, first-round series with Neftekhimik was essentially even – every game was decided by a one-goal margin; in some cases, the Nizhnekamsk team was just luckless. In the Eastern final, Magnitka won without question (4-1, including one 6-0 drubbing), and nevertheless Traktor’s season can be considered a success: They turned from solid middle-of-the-pack team into a solid contender.
Roster
Departures
Goalie: Roman Will (Dynamo Pardubice, Czechia);
Defense: Dmitry Alexeyev (CSKA, trade), Nick Bailen (Koln Haie, DEL), Bogdan Zhilyakov (Dynamo St. Petersburg, VHL, trade), Lawrence Pilut (Buffalo, NHL);
Forwards: Tomas Hyka (Dynamo Pardubice, Czechia), Vitaly Kravtsov (New York Rangers, NHL), Vyacheslav Osnovin (Sibir), Lukas Sedlak (Colorado, NHL).
Arrivals
Goalies: Ilya Proskuryakov (Lada, VHL, try-out), Kirill Ustimenko (Reading, ECHL);
Defense: Ivan Vorobyov (Krakow, Poland), Alexander Shepelev (Nitra, Slovakia);
Forwards: Anton Burdasov (SKA), Ilya Zinovyev (Dizel, VHL, try-out), Mikhail Kotlyarevsky (Metallurg Novokuznetsk, VHL, try-out), Pyotr Khokhryakov (Salavat Yulaev)
The Chelyabinsk team’s losses this summer were severe: the five international players and Vitaly Kravtsov all played a very important role; without them, Traktor will certainly be a very different team. Anton Burdasov’s return is a plus, but just one plus pales if compared to six minuses.
Coaching
Anvar Gatiyatulin’s career as a head coach hasn’t been very eventful yet: less than three hundred games in five seasons. Nevertheless, he has led his team to the conference finals twice – something that many cannot do over a period twice as long. He used to be associated with cautious and conservatory hockey, but last term, Traktor was second only to Magnitogorsk and Dynamo Moscow in terms of goal-scoring performance. This shows not that Gatiyatulin has changed the concept, but that he is effectively using his available players: the club’s management did its job by significantly strengthening the attack, and the head coach did his job by managing this strengthening in a smart way.
Goalies
Traktor’s goalie line seems to be the most problematic right now. Emil Garipov hasn’t been a starter in the latest four years. Back then, Kirill Ustimenko was considered quite promising, but what direction the prospect has taken after two seasons in the ECHL (and a season in the Belorussian championship in between) is still not clearly known. Ilya Proskuryakov, who is still on a try-out agreement, spent the same period in Germany, Sochi, Riga, and Togliatti – and was also nowhere near being a starter, not even in the VHL.
Defense
Overall, the defensive situation doesn’t look as alarming as the goalie situation, but it’s pretty clear that without Nick Bailen (who provided an astonishing 40 assists last season) and Lawrence Pilut (who blocked 87 shots) it will be fundamentally different. First and foremost, in terms of offensive support. Albert Yarullin may switch to a more offensive role, but he’s unlikely to reach the same level as Bailen. The situation with Alexander Shepelev, who returned after two years of Czech-Slovakian sojourns, is about the same as with Ustimenko – unclear. But Sergei Telegin and Artyom Blazhievsky, who was traded from CSKA, should get more time on ice – Gatiyatulin is using them as the nominal first defensive pairing in the preseason.
Offense
And the opposite is true for the offense: despite the loss of such great performers as Lukas Sedlak and Tomas Hyka, the offensive line has hardly weakened much. Nikita Tertyshny had a brilliant season last term, and to solid all-rounders like Vladimir A. Tkachyov, Sergei Kalinin, and Alexei Byvaltsev, the boards added Pyotr Khokhryakov. And now Traktor has two elite finishers, when not each team in the league can boast at least one: Finn Teemu Pulkkinen, and Anton Burdasov. Having such a beauty at his disposal, Gatiyatulin has Tkachyov playing in the nominal third line (and even though the coach says that he has three equally strong attacking threes, it’s clear that Vladimir’s wingers are of a lower level than those who play in the first two). In any case, the Traktor offense remained very formidable – except for the support provided by Bailen.
Youngsters
Alongside Tkachyov, at least in the preseason, are 21-year-old Maxim Shabanov, who averaged one point per game last season in the VHL, and sometimes 19-year-old Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer. Another interesting player is 18-year-old Yaroslav Yapparov, signed off VHL’s Yugra, but Traktor’s best youngster is on defense, and is 21-year-old Sergei Telegin.
Expectations
Traktor most likely won’t be able to return to its previous position – second place in the regular season and in the top four for the overall standings. The Chelyabinsk side must get to the playoffs, though, and they might even make it to the second round. In order to do that, however, they need to find a solution to the goaltending question – either one of the three available will play better than expected, or the boards will need to find a more valuable import on the market.
