New schedule, new imports and new stars
Vityaz hopes to unearth another gem from Finland, Barys has a busy week, rising stars go to the NHL draft and the KHL unveils its 2023-2024 schedule.
Vityaz returns to Finnish market
In recent seasons, Vityaz has had great results recruiting from Finland’s Liiga. Therefore it’s no big surprise that the Moscow Region club is looking to that market once again to find a new center. This time, Derek Barach is the pick. The American, 28, never made it to the NHL, but joined Assat two seasons ago after playing in the AHL. Once in Europe, he proved a solid acquisition for the Pori club where he was second in team scoring in both of his seasons. He finished his time there was 66 points in 122 games. After Tyler Graovac failed to impress at Vityaz last year, Barach will be a natural replacement for him on the team.
Rylov ready for 16th KHL season
Veteran defenseman Yakov Rylov has been in the KHL since it started in 2008. Now he’s confirmed his return for the sixteenth season – and the 38-year-old is poised to be the oldest player in the league after Danis Zaripov and Vasily Koshechkin hung up their skates. Rylov signed a new one-year contract with Amur, where he played 27 games last season. Amur also agreed a contract extension with Slovenian international Jan Drozg, the only KHL import to play at May’s IIHF World Championship.
Barys gets busy
Last week saw Barys Astana confirm the future of several players. The big news was the return of goalie Eddie Pasquale to the Kazakh capital. The 32-year-old Canadian began his KHL career with the club in 2019-2020 but went on to play two seasons in Yaroslavl and a third at Metallurg. Now he’s back on a two-year deal. The club also acquired Swedish forward Pontus Aberg, who had 23 (10+13) points in 49 regular season games for Traktor in 2020-2021. The 29-year-old signed a one-year deal having played in Switzerland and Czech Republic last season. Veteran Roman Starchenko also returns home after a season with Spartak, while Alex Grant, Nelson Nogier, Jeremy Bracco and Michael Chaput were among the players who agreed new contracts with the club.
Schedule set
The KHL released its schedule for the 2023-2024 season. The action starts, as usual, on Sep. 1 with last year’s Gagarin Cup finalists contesting the Opening Cup in Moscow. Once again, teams will play 68 regular season games – and this year we have a record 165 game days. From the opening day to the first pause there will be 98 consecutive game days. The regular season ends on Feb. 26, with the playoffs starting on Feb. 29. The four rounds of post season play will run until a potential Gagarin Cup final game seven on April 29. This year’s playoffs will also have a new format. The first round will be played in Eastern and Western conferences as usual. However, after that the remaining eight teams will be divided into two groups of four and play cross-conference pairs all the way to the final.
2023-2024 KHL season’s calendar: a record with 165 playing days
Draft surprise for Simashev
Lokomotiv prospect Dmitry Simashev was the first Russian player picked in this year’s NHL draft. The 18-year-old Kostroma native was selected at #6, going to the Arizona Coyotes. That’s despite a relatively low profile: Simashev has no international tournament experience and played just 18 KHL games, without scoring a point to date. Yet he was chosen ahead of Matvei Michkov, SKA’s scoring prodigy, who was taken at #7 by Philadelphia. Prior to the draft, there were diverse opinions about Simashev’s qualities: some commentators had him as a possible selection in the teens, others had him in the third round. However, he was called for interview by 24 clubs – more than any other player in the combine. That, plus his giant frame (194 cm, 91 kg) and impressive skating suggests he could have something special. In addition, he has built a reputation in the Junior Hockey League as an effective two-way defenseman who is comfortable on both sides of the puck.
Four Russians taken in first round
As well as Simashev, Arizona also selected another Lokomotiv youngster, forward Daniil But. He potted two goals in 15 KHL appearances last season, while also impressing in the Juniors. Michkov, whose productive loan spell at Sochi embellished his status while his on-going three-year contract with SKA raised questions, goes to the Flyers at #7. The fourth player selected in round one was Avangard’s blue-liner Mikhail Gulyayev, who had one assist in 13 KHL games last season as he divided his time between the juniors, the VHL and the first team. In total, there were 20 Russian picks, plus four from Belarus and one, Vladimir Nikitin, from Kazakhstan.
