Returning goalies, new goalies, import goalies
Goalies have dominated the week’s trade news, with CSKA, SKA and Traktor all choosing their new netminders. SKA has been busy all week, with a blockbuster trade to Lada grabbing the headlines in a week full of new signings. Best of all, there’s less than three weeks until the first pre-season game of the summer.
Fedotov back to CSKA
After a one-year absence while he completed his military service, Gagarin Cup-winning goalie Ivan Fedotov is set to return to CSKA. The 26-year-old netminder, who helped Russia to Olympic silver in 2022, has agreed a two-year deal with the defending champion. The KHL has ratified the deal, despite claims that Fedotov had a valid contract with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.
KHL registers Ivan Fedotov’s contract with CSKA
A statement from the league explained that there was no issue with Fedotov returning to CSKA because: “Based on the information and documents received from the NHL, the League and the Club proceed on the basis that Ivan Fedotov does not have a valid and binding contract with an NHL club for the 2023-2024 season in the sense that was envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding.”
Traktor recruits new netminder
Fedotov wasn’t the only goalie in the news. Traktor signed up Zach Fucale from the AHL in a bid to resolve its goaltending dilemma. The move was something of a surprise: the 28-year-old Canadian has four NHL appearances with the Capitals, but played the bulk of his career to date in the AHL. This season, he helped Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup. He has limited European experience: twice he helped team Canada win the Spengler Cup, and he also signed with DEL outfit Munchen at the end of the Covid-affected 2019-2020 season, but never suited up for the German club. Fucale signed a two-year deal with Traktor, where local prospect Sergei Mylnikov is set to be his understudy this term.
Homeward bound
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev is another prominent arrival in Chelyabinsk. The 22-year-old, a Leafs draft pick in 2018, was born in Moscow. However, fans in Russia have not seen much of him to date. After playing for Krylya Sovietov U16s, he headed to North America and spent four seasons in the OHL with Peterborough Petes. Then came a stint with a Marlies, and a single NHL game for Toronto. The young center played on loan with Torpedo during the Covid-affected 2020-2021 season, with 6 (2+4) points in 17 games, plus four playoff outings. Now he’s on a two-year deal with Traktor after a career high 40 points in 50 AHL games for the Marlies.
Barys signed a one-year deal with American forward Joe LaBate. The 30-year-old was a championship winner with the University of Wisconsin during his college days but never managed to establish himself in the NHL. After 13 scoreless appearances for the Canucks, the center spent the rest of his time in the AHL, most recently with the Chicago Wolves. His move to Kazakhstan represents his first contract outside of North America.
Barys returns to the market, SKA inks Swedish goalie. Top transfers
Lada acquires nine players from SKA
The week’s big trade, in terms of volume if not resonance, involved newcomer Lada and perennial challenger SKA. Nine players swapped Petersburg for Togliatti, a deal that immediately lifts Lada into the ranks of genuine playoff hopefuls. The big name on the list was Andrei Altybarmakyan. He brings plenty of KHL experience, notably as a leader at HC Sochi, and also made a name for himself as the first junior player to make an impact after earning an invite to a KHL All-Star Game. Fellow forward Nikita Popugayev stood out amid the wreckage of Sochi’s struggles last season and, if he can agree a contract with Lada, could benefit from a year of stability after a career that has seen the 24-year-old flit from club to club and league to league. In addition, Lada acquired goalie Nikita Bogdanov, defensemen Grigory Gryaznov, Evgeny Kalabushkin, Evgeny Koreshkov and Georgy Solyannikov, plus forwards Pavel Koltygin, and Alexei Ozhgikhin.
SKA strengthens at the back
The “Russian Cale Makar” is on his way to SKA. Defenseman Maxim Fedotov had a break-out season with Torpedo last term, compiling 26 (9+17) points in 64 regular season games and adding seven more in the playoffs. That form also saw him represent Russia’s U25s, where his impressive performances against Belarus saw Roman Rotenberg liken him to the Av’s Stanley Cup winning D-man. Not bad for a 21-year-old, right? Rotenberg is also head coach of SKA, and that international link-up persuaded the Petersburg team to sign Maxim – and younger brother Ilya, a promising forward – on long-term deals until 2027.
In addition, SKA also announced the signing of Swedish goalie Johan Mattsson. He spent last season with Avtomobilist and proved a reliable last line of defense in Yekaterinburg. However, with the Motormen needing to cut imports to comply with the new limit, he was on the look-out for a new club and will now follow his compatriots Magnus Hellberg and Lars Johansson between the Petersburg piping.
Pre-season takes shape
The wait to get back on the ice is coming to an end. This summer, the first pre-season game is scheduled for July 27. That’s when Avangard will take on the VHL’s Omskiye Krylya in a warm-up test. There’s more action on the way in the final days of July, then the first tournament of the summer starts in Sochi on Aug. 3. There are two new tournaments on the schedule: Togliatti celebrates its return to the KHL by staging the Lada Cup, then Omsk puts on the Blinov Memorial Cup. However, two familiar events have dropped off the calendar: Astana will not be hosting the President of Kazakhstan Cup this year, while the Romazan Memorial in Magnitogorsk has been repackaged as a junior tournament.
