Canadian forward for Rotenberg, KHL knowhow at Lada

Last week brought some more big trades around the KHL – and also saw some pre-season tournaments announce their schedules.

Leipsic heads to SKA

Under Roman Rotenberg, SKA has shied away from North American imports. Last season, Dmitrij Jaskin, a Russian-born Czech international, was the only foreigner on an entirely Russian-speaking team. Rotenberg himself has often spoken of Canadians as the “other side” in his personal hockey rivalry. However, that has not stopped Brendan Leipsic from moving to Petersburg. Maybe Leipsic’s coach at Metallurg, Ilya Vorobyov, who described the pacy forward as a “Soviet-style” player, helped to swing the verdict. Or maybe it’s simply the prospect of putting him on a line with other summer acquisitions Sergei Tolchinsky and Arseny Gritsyuk that persuaded Rotenberg to invite a Canadian onto the team. It promises to be one of the more intriguing trades of the summer.

Experience for Lada

KHL newcomer Lada Togliatti is making waves ahead of its return to the championship. Last week saw the unveiling of three players with the potential to be real leaders. Both Dmitry Kugryshev and Sergei Shumakov have proven their effectiveness in the past. However, the two forwards have also seen their output decline in recent seasons and a fresh challenge at Lada could be just the spark needed to reignite their skills. In addition, 33-year-old center Mikhail Fisenko should add some weight to the bottom six. Don’t expect a goal rush, but do expect plenty of good work stopping the opposition’s top lines.

Admiral fills its import quota

With only three slots for imports in this season’s KHL, Admiral had to release Slovak forward Michal Kristof. Last week, we learned that Tyler Graovac will replace him. The Canadian center is no stranger to the KHL, having played for Dinamo Minsk and Vityaz. He’s also bigger than Kristof and should prove difficult to dislodge from the slot. He’s joined by KHL newcomer Giovanni Fiore, a Canadian forward with Italian roots. He arrives from Eisbaren Berlin, where he won two DEL championships. The 26-year-old also made one NHL appearance, for Anaheim in 2017-2018.

Admiral completes its import set. Top transfers

Huska returns to Torpedo

Slovak goalie Adam Huska is coming back to Nizhny Novgorod after agreeing a new one-year deal with Torpedo. The 26-year-old, who played at two World Championships, took his KHL bow last year with Igor Larionov’s team. Huska had 14 wins in 28 games, stopping 91.3% of shots for a GAA of 2.52. Earlier in his career, the Zvolen native made a solitary NHL appearance for the Rangers.

Pre-season shapes up

Details of some of this summer’s warm-up events are emerging. As usual, the Sochi Hockey Open is the first tournament on the schedule. From Aug. 3-8 Avangard, Admiral, SKA and a Russian national team will join HC Sochi to contest the summer’s earliest trophy. Other tournaments with a confirmed line-up include the Republic of Bashkortostan Cup in Ufa, where Salavat Yulaev welcomes Metallurg, Avtomobilist and Dynamo Moscow on Aug. 10-13. In parallel, Kazan stages the TANECO Cup once again, with Ak Bars entertaing Lokomotiv, Barys and Traktor on Aug. 10-14. Lada celebrates its return to the KHL when its hosts a tournament involving Kunlun Red Star, Neftekhimik and Khimik on Aug. 11-13. Towards the end of August, there are also major tournaments planned in Omsk, Chelyabinsk and Moscow.