SKA season review: fantastic regular season, but no playoff final
KHL.ru continues its review of the 2022-2023 with a look at SKA. During the regular season, Petersburg led the way and dominated allcomers. However, in the playoffs it once again lost to CSKA in the Western Conference final.
Before the start of the campaign, SKA significantly revamped its roster. On the plus side, this left a strong-looking team. However, it was unclear how quickly that team would gel despite promising signs in pre-season.
In reality, SKA made a flying start with nine successive victories. Each of the first 17 games brought at least a point. There were more long winning streaks to come: SKA finished the regular season with 50 victories and was the only team to earn more than 100 points.
In the playoffs, SKA faced a hard battle to defeat Dinamo Minsk 4-2, then overcame Torpedo without defeat (albeit, not without some challenges). That set-up another conference final clash with CSKA. After four games, the rivals were tied at 2-2 but then the Muscovites found some added strength. A 7-3 loss in game five was too great a blow for SKA, and CSKA advanced on a 3-0 scoreline in game six.
Best players
69 (45+24) points in 81 games
Jaskin led the league in points and goals in the regular season, earning the second Golden Stick of his career. The Czech international was also only the second player to score 40 goals in a single KHL season, following Sergei Mozyakin (48 in 2016-2017). In the playoffs, Jaskin was going well (5+2 in 8 games) until he suffered an injury against Torpedo. That knocked him off course: he missed a couple of games and was not 100% for the Western final.
63 (15+48) points in 81 games
Nikishin, 21, had a great season and set a couple of significant records. First, he broke SKA’s record points tally from a defenseman, previously held by Sergei Zubov. Then he became the first Russian defenseman to tally 50+ points in the regular season (55 (11+44) to be precise). He couldn’t match Chris Lee all-time record (65 points in the 2016-2017 regular season and 21 more in the playoffs), Nikishin’s 2022-2023 campaign will be remembered for a long time.
68 (34+34) points in 81 games
In his first season away from his native Neftekhimik, Khairullin adapted fast to life in an organization with greater ambitions. He was one of SKA’s most productive players, regularly picking up points in all situations. In the playoffs, Khairullin was SKA’s leading scorer with 14 (6+8) points in 16 games.
Coaching
This was Roman Rotenberg’s first full season behind the bench at SKA. Under his guidance, the team was almost flawless in the regular season, collecting more than 77% of the available points, scoring more goals than anyone else in the league (243) and lifting the Continental Cup.
However, that progress did not continue into the playoffs. Just like last year, Rotenberg got through two rounds before SKA lost to Sergei Fedorov’s CSKA in the Western Final.
“Overall, we had a very good season,” Rotenberg said. “We deservedly got through two rounds of the playoffs. Along with CSKA we were the only team to make the conference finals for the second year in a row. Step by step, we’re making progress. Winning the Continental Cup means a lot. I’d like to congratulate everyone on that achievement. Of course, our aim was to win that Gagarin Cup but we need to add a little more to do that. That’s what we’re working towards.”
Best game
On Feb. 3, SKA and Ak Bars put on a real show in St. Petersburg as they shared 11 goals. At the first intermission the score was already 3-3, SKA moved in front in the second and put the game beyond reach in the third with a 7-4 scoreline. The stars of the day were Emil Galimov, who scored four goals, and Marat Khairullin, who had three assists and scored the game winner.
Young players
SKA brightest U23 star was undoubtedly Alexander Nikishin. But he was not alone. Forwards Marat Khusnutdinov and Zakhar Bardakov played notable roles in the first team. Khusnutdinov made 79 appearances for 48 (12+36) points. Bardakov missed a chunk of the season through injury, but still had 21 (7+14) points in 51 games.
Defenseman Arseny Koromyslov played just under half the season and finished with two assists and a +4 rating. Forward Maxim Groshev had 8 (2+6) points in 34 games.
Goalie Dmitry Nikolayev, who turned 23 in January, played 57 games. This was his first full season in the KHL, after playing five times in 2021-2022. He repaid the coaching staff’s trust in him, with 39 wins, a GAA of 2.08, 92.5% saves and five shut-outs.
Summer work
Once again, SKA has been busy in the transfer market. There are high profile departures – Jaskin, Damir Zhafyarov and Nikita Gusev. In their place, meanwhile, SKA has signed a clutch of quality offensive players. The list includes Avangard duo Arseny Gritsyuk, Pavel Dedunov and Sergei Tolchinsky (the latter on a five-year contract), Vityaz leaders Ivan Zinchenko and Stepan Starkov, impressive center Alexander Kadeikin and skillful speedster Brendan Leipsic. Not to mention Matvei Michkov’s return from loan.
The D-core remains more or less intact. Three players – Georgy Berdyukov, Kirill Kirsanov and Nikita Smirnov – are off on loan to Dinamo Minsk, with Nikita Zorkin and Sergei Sapego coming the other way. In addition, SKA has signed Artyom Zemchyonok and two-time Gagarin Cup winner Artyom Sergeyev.
