Shaking up the ice. Top transfer moves
Imports and Russian players find new homes as the KHL free agency phase continues.
Alex Broadhurst
From Avangard to Amur
The Far East franchise didn’t have a great showing last term, ending as the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference — it was evident that the team needed to be strengthened to compete with their regional rivals, and the choice fell on Broadhurst. At his first season in the league, the American forward was a good piece of the puzzle for the Hawks, netting half a point a game in the regular season, and adding eight points in the playoffs, complementing his colleagues from overseas Reid Boucher and Corban Knight. However, he will now have a new challenge in front of him in Khabarovsk as the Far East franchise will want to return to the elimination stage since their latest qualification back in 2018. Amur will have plenty of new faces, starting from their head coach — Andrei Martemyanov took the reins following Vadim Yepanchintsev’s guidance of last season.
Mark Barberio
From Dinamo Minsk to Severstal
Until recently, Severstal’s transfers in this offseason focused on acquiring young players. This comes as no surprise, considering the new head coach of Cherepovets, Andrei Kozyrev, brings a rich experience of working with youth, starting from his time in the SKA system and later with Igor Larionov in Torpedo. However, some experience is needed, and Mark Barberio is a good addition to the Cherepovets franchise. The 33-year-old Canadian has played in nearly 300 NHL games, served as captain for Switzerland’s side Lausanne, spent a season with Ak Bars, and participated in the Olympics in Beijing. Last season, Barberio played for Minsk and surprisingly emerged as the top scorer for Dinamo in the playoffs. He will not only bring experience to Severstal’s defense but also strive to fill the void left by Robin Press — who moved to Metallurg — in most situations.
Arseny Gritsyuk and Sergei Tolchinsky
From Avangard to SKA
A perennial contender, SKA has somewhat lacked some quality upfront as it showed in the Conference finals against CSKA. Signing Gritsyuk and Tolchinsky, the St. Petersburg side has made a move in a certain direction, getting two quick forwards with smooth hands and who can add creativity to SKA’s attacks. But their worth is not only a matter of reputation — they both won awards at the KHL level, with Tolchinsky being named the league’s playoff MVP in Avangard’s winning rush in 2021 and Gritsyuk winning the Alexei Cherepanov trophy as the KHL’s top rookie in the next year’s campaign. SKA has completed several intriguing deals in the offseason, but hardly any new signing will be able to compete with the Russian duo from Avangard.
Borna Rendulic
From Adler Mannheim (DEL) to HC Sochi
The Croatian forward is back to the KHL after four years — three of them spent in Germany with Adler Mannheim, with excellent stats. Earlier, Rendulic played for one year and a half with Vityaz, totalling 22 goals and 43 points for the Moscow Region franchise. The forward will add experience and creativity to the Black Sea team’s lineup, after ending the 2022-2023 campaign at the bottom of the standings and establishing a record for the most losses. Sochi has worked well on the transfer market so far, as Rendulic will join Michal Kristof on the teams’ offensive lines.
Jesse Graham
From Barys to HC Sochi
Rendulic is not the lone good signing for Sochi this offseason — the team strengthened its defensive core with Jesse Graham, last year with Barys. The Canadian blueliner, who has signed a two-year deal with Sochi, showcased glimpses of good hockey in Kazakhstan, although didn’t manage to open his goalscoring account in the KHL, even if he had 19 assists in 66 regular season games. Graham, who also played in the DEL like Rendulic in the past seasons, will add mobility and defensive awareness to Sochi’s lineup. The Black Sea franchise will try to return to the playoffs after failing to qualify to the elimination stage for four consecutive times.
