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Avtomobilist season review: strong start, sluggish finish
KHL.ru continues its club-by-club round-up of the 2022-2023 season with a trip to Yekaterinburg.
Based on results alone, Avtomobilist’s season was clearly rather better than 2021-2022. The previous campaign saw the Motormen miss the playoffs; this time they were back in the top eight and pushed Metallurg all the way in the first round.
However, expectations were far higher. Avto hoped for more than merely battling in the first round. The team made a flying start to the season, storming to the top of the Eastern conference with a powerful offense that was especially strong on the PP. However, after the pause for the Fonbet KHL All-Star Game in Chelyabinsk, things began to go astray.
Following that break, the Motormen just weren’t themselves. They lost nine straight, including 0-5 and 1-7 thrashings from Avangard. It wasn’t until the end of the season that we saw some stability return to Avtomobilist’s game as the team finished in fourth place.
In the series against Metallurg, an injury to experienced goalie Johan Mattsson clearly took its toll. Even without the Swede, Avto and Magnitka traded victories throughout the series and it all came down to game seven. In the decider, Metallurg rallied from 1-3 in the third period to win in overtime. It was a game of fine margins:Alexei Vasilevsky hit the crossbar for Avto in the extras, only for Nikolai Goldobin to take the puck down the ice and end the season in Yekaterinburg.
Best players
63 (21+42) points in 61 games
Da Costa led Avto in scoring, picking up just over a point a game. For a long time, he was among the leaders in the KHL scoring. The Frenchman picked up an injury in December which denied him even more points, but that couldn’t deny him a successful season from an individual point of view.
58 (38+20) points in 71 games
Macek enjoyed his most productive campaign in 2022-2023. He was third in KHL goals in the regular season and playoffs combined, behind Dmitrij Jaskin (45) and Reid Boucher (40). Macek once again showed that he has an elite shot, especially effective on the power play. He potted 16 goals while playing with a man advantage.
42 (21+21) points in 62 games
Shirokov arrived from Spartak and immediately became a leader on his new team. Many of his colleagues talked of what the Gagarin Cup winner brought to the atmosphere in the locker room. He also brought plenty onto the ice. As captain of the team, he led by example with consistent productivity all year. Indeed, had he escaped injury Sergei might have recorded his highest-scoring KHL season.
Coaching
Nikolai Zavarukhin’s first full season behind the Avtomobilist bench was mixed. On the plus side, he led his team to the top four in the East. On the minus, after a great start to the season there was a real slump in December, and there was no way past Metallurg in the opening round of the playoffs. Overall, though, most who follow Avtomobilist felt that the club made progress under Zavarukhin’s guidance.
“We know that the team did not achieve all we wanted this season, we couldn’t get past a Metallurg team that was a big rival for us all through the championship,” said Zavarukhin. “But I’m not ashamed of how we came out of the playoffs. We battled, some guys played through injury, some played with illnesses. Nobody said: ‘I can’t.’ Everyone was ready to fight for the team, for the fans. And that was some comfort despite falling short this season.”
Best game
On Oct. 4 in Kazan, Avtomobilist was involved in one of the craziest barn-burners of the season. In the first period, the Motormen traded goals with Ak Bars. In the second, Alexander Radulov put the home team up for the first time, but Nikita Tryamkin tied the scores in the third. Then the fun really began. Curtis Valk gave the visitor a 46th-minute lead, which lasted just 78 seconds. On 56:02, Radulov thought he’d won it with his second of the game, but Macek sent the game into OT just 65 seconds later. In the first minute of the extras, Macek struck again to seal the win.
Young players
Avtomobilist had the oldest roster in the league last season. Among its youngsters, Viktor Neuchev made the biggest impact. The 19-year-old played 57 games, averaging 9:33 on the ice and scoring 12 (4+8) points. In the playoffs, he saw little action: the left winger saw just 1:39 ice time and didn’t register a point in four games.
Defenseman Valery Sitnikov, 21, played 31 games. He usually had around five minutes on the ice, picked up one assist and had a rating of +3.
Summer work
Avtomobilist could not hold onto either of its goalies Johan Mattsson or Igor Bobkov, but the arrival of Evgeny Alikin should compensate for that.
Among the skaters, much of the Motormen’s summer shopping was done at Neftekhimik. Vladislav Leontiev and Semyon Kizimov returned from loan spells in Nizhnekamsk, then Neftekhimik’s former captain Kirill Vorobyov, the league leader in blocked shots, moved to Yekaterinburg. The arrival of forward Alexei Byvaltsev from Traktor also stands out.
Among the departures, Neuchev is off to the Sabres while Patrice Cormier is continuing his career in Germany. The Canadian was regarded as one of the leaders in the locker room alongside Shirokov, and his absence could be keenly felt on the team.
