Ak Bars season review: Bilyaletdinov’s return and fifth trip to the finals
KHL.ru continues reviewing the 2022-2023 season for the different league’s teams with a trip to Kazan. Ak Bars entered the regular season with a constellation of stars and a new head coach. They had their ups and downs throughout the season but ultimately won the Eastern Conference and advanced to their fifth Gagarin Cup Final.
Many labelled the Kazan franchise the ‘2022 off-season champions.’ Ak Bars brought back Alexander Radulov from overseas, traded for Vadim Shipachyov, Vyacheslav Voynov, and Stanislav Galiyev, and signed Kirill Semyonov, Vasily Tokranov, and Dinar Khafizullin. Leading this group was Oleg Znarok, a three-time Gagarin Cup winner and Olympic champion. It was logical to consider Ak Bars as favorites for the upcoming season, but right from the beginning, something went wrong. In the very first game, the star-studded Kazan attack failed to score to Dynamo Moscow. Things improved slightly afterward, but in October, the team lost six consecutive games, and discussions about internal problems began to surface due to the lack of results. Ak Bars conceded six goals to Torpedo and Sibir, losing to opponents who were clearly of lower caliber, and at one point, they even dropped out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. In the end, Znarok worked for the club for only three months, and his employment with Ak Bars ended after a home victory against Lokomotiv (3:2).
That’s when Zinetula Bilyaletdinov returned. Yes, he had been working as an advisor to the executive director since summer, but after Znarok’s departure, he first took the assistant coach role under Yuri Babenko (who was the interim head coach at the time) and then returned to the team’s helm after three years. Kazan eventually won the Eastern Conference and faced Neftekhimik in the first round. The Nizhnekamsk side put up a good fight but ultimately lost, and the same fate awaited Admiral in the conference semifinals. It was a great battle, a tough series, and Ak Bars emerged victorious. Next up was Avangard, a team that Kazan had been eager to defeat in their hometown since 2019, and they finally succeeded, winning the series 4-1.
The Gagarin Cup Final was intense, just like the entire season. In the electrifying Tatneft Arena, Ak Bars claimed the first game, but then suffered three consecutive defeats. Despite CSKA’s seemingly invincibility, Bilyaletdinov’s team managed to turn the series around from 1-3 to 3-3. The seventh game took place in Kazan, and it was a tale of misfortune: the opponents displayed incredible hockey, Ak Bars led first 1:0, then 2:1, but ultimately lost.
Top players
76 (35+41) points in 86 games
The transfer of Radulov to Ak Bars was perhaps the most significant move of the past offseason. Some celebrated the return of a true superstar to the KHL, while others questioned whether Alexander, at 36 years old, could still make an impact. The ‘Tatar Devil,’ as he was nicknamed in Kazan, silenced the skeptics with a fantastic season: he was the team’s top scorer and sniper, its captain, and main energizer. In addition to goals and assists, Radulov skillfully got under the skin of opponents and stood up for his teammates when necessary.
Admiral’s head coach, Leonids Tambijevs, summed up his game best: “A player who is hated by the opposing team is a good player. In this series, I simply hated Radulov.”
The fact that Radulov was a contender for the Playoffs’ MVP award and became a candidate for the Golden Stick until the very end only emphasizes the thesis of one of the best seasons in Alexander’s illustrious career. Additionally, he performs a tremendous amount of work on the ice – according to smart puck data, Radulov covered a distance of 32,602 meters in the final. This is the best result among players from both teams.
Timur Bilyalov
34 wins in 70 games, 1.99 GAA, 92.9 saves percentage
The Ak Bars’ goalie had a very respectable season, particularly in the elimination stage. Playing in 24 games during the Gagarin Cup run, he ranked fourth in save percentage (93.8%) and third in goals-against average (1.70). It’s worth noting that the goaltenders who ranked higher than Bilyalov in these statistics played significantly fewer games than him (the most being 12 games played by Nikita Serebryakov and Daniil Isayev). In the final series, Timur claimed the top spot among Ak Bars’ goaltenders in terms of playoff wins, surpassing Emil Garipov with 29 victories to 28.
Ilya Safonov
43 (22+21) points in 88 games
The situation where a young player (Safonov turned 22 on May 30, 2023) plays a crucial role in the team is inherently unique. Especially when it comes to a club with such a stacked roster as Ak Bars had in the 2022-2023 season. Firstly, Safonov, Radulov, and Dmitry Voronkov complemented each other perfectly in their line. Secondly, Ilya played 88 games in the season, more than Radulov, Kirill Petrov, or Stanislav Galiyev. Thirdly, despite the wealth of choices, Safonov emerged with the best differential for Ak Bars, ending the season with a plus-32 rating.
Head coach
The return of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov to the coaching position became an event that transformed a potentially disappointing season for Ak Bars into a nearly perfect one, lacking only a victory in the final to fit that definition. During the season, Bilyaletdinov coached his 600th KHL game and achieved his 375th victory in the League, climbing to a solid third place in this statistic behind Vladimir Krikunov (440) and Dmitry Kvartalnov (515). In the Gagarin Cup, Bilyaletdinov set a record for playoff victories in the League’s history, with 89 wins to his name. He led Ak Bars to the final in all five appearances by the Kazan-based franchise.
Under his guidance, Ak Bars played as one of the top contenders for the Gagarin Cup should. It’s important to note that Bilyaletdinov extended his contract with the club to ‘finish the job,’ meaning to win the fourth Cup for Kazan and Tatarstan. While in the previous season, he led the team to the final after taking over in late December, now he will have a full preseason and the entire regular season to prepare.
Best game
Finding themselves with their backs against the wall, Ak Bars players entered the fifth game of the finals with a wild determination, hitting everything that moved: 14 hits just in the first period! It was largely due to such efforts and an incredible impulse that the Kazan side managed to claim the victory, despite Prokhor Poltapov’s highlight-reel goal. Radulov scored a crucial tally for the local fans in the second period, and in the third, Galiyev put Kazan in the lead, allowing the team to confidently bring the game to a victory in a typical Bilyaletdinov fashion. This game proved to be crucial for the further development of the series and marked the beginning of a remarkable comeback.
Youngsters
During the offseason, Nikita Yevseyev emerged in the Ak Bars roster. The 18-year-old defenseman displayed a mature game beyond his years and earned the trust of Znarok, who even paired him with Voynov in the first defensive pair during the regular season. With Bilyaletdinov’s arrival, Yevseyev’s ice time slightly decreased, but his achievements speak for themselves – he scored several crucial goals, such as against Avangard in the third game of the series, and finished the season with a +15 differential, placing him third among Ak Bars blueliner. Only Kristian Khenkel (+17) and Konstantin Luchevnikov (+16) had higher ratings.
As mentioned earlier, Safronov and Voronkov have already established themselves as KHL-level players, despite their age. As for other forwards who are competing for a spot in the lineup, Dmitry Katelevsky, Maxim Bykov, and Semyon Terekhov deserve recognition. Fans will likely see at least one of them, if not all three, in future preseason games.
Summer progress
The already star-studded roster of Ak Bars has become even stronger ahead of the 2023-2024 season. The club signed Dmitrij Jaskin, who was the top performer in the previous regular season, and acquired Damir Zhafyarov in a trade with SKA. Kirill Petrov also signed a new contract with the team.
In terms of departures, it’s worth noting Voronkov’s move to North America and Kirill Panyukov’s trade to Avangard. Voronkov played a more significant role in the team, and it’s possible that Jaskin will be his positional replacement.
