Coaching contests and trades for SKA

Last week saw two unusual duels behind the bench in the KHL, as well as a raft of trades triggered by SKA’s on-going rebuild. All-Star voting got underway, and the league’s scoring leader powered to 30 points – but doesn’t lead the fan poll.

A family affair

When Avtomobilist played Traktor last week, it was a unique occasion for the KHL. For the first time ever, two cousins coached opposing teams in a KHL game. This was somewhat unexpected. While Nikolai Zavarukhin is established as head coach for the Motormen, his cousin Alexei was abruptly thrust into interim charge at Traktor following the depart of Anvar Gatiyatulin. The game went to Nikolai and Avtomobilist, but there was no dishonor in Traktor’s 1-2 loss and friendly family relations were swiftly restored on the hooter.

Coaching reunion

That wasn’t the only notable coaching match-up of the week. When Torpedo visited Severstal, Igor Larionov found himself up against his assistant from last season, Andrei Kozyrev. The two men know each other’s game well, but neither was persuaded to step away from his attacking instincts. As a result, we saw an entertaining encounter with Torpedo recovering from 1-3 to win by the odd goal in seven. Chapter two of this story unfolds in Nizhny Novgorod tonight.

SKA swoops for Rendulic

Borna Rendulic made a splash at Sochi – and the KHL’s only Croatian player is now scoring for SKA. At Sochi, Rendulic formed a devastating partnership with Michal Kristof and Dmitry Zavgorodny: the trio was the seventh most productive in the league and fired last season’s struggler towards the top end of the Western Conference. With SKA in disappointing form, and having just two right-handed forwards on the team, Rendulic looked an ideal reinforcement for the power play. In addition, Roman Rotenberg talked of the physical presence that his new signing could bring. Rendulic himself settled in fast, scoring on his debut and potting another in second appearance for his new club.

Sochi moves fast to replace leading forward

After losing its top scorer, Sochi made two acquisitions. It’s fair to suggest that Marat Khusnutdinov and Jeremy Bracco represent one for now, and one for later. Bracco, who was placed on waivers early in his second season at Barys, brings experience and had 40 points in Kazakhstan last season. The Canadian looks like something of a straight swap for Rendulic. Khusnutdinov, who arrives from SKA, is only 21 but spent last season on SKA’s first team and had 41 points in 63 regular season games. He’s also had an early taste of international play and has the look of a future star.

Neftekhimik and SKA trade players

SKA also made an exchange with Neftekhimik last week. Forward Andrei Chivilyov moved to Petersburg, renewing an acquaintance with Rotenberg that began with the national team. However, the 23-year-old failed to live up to his status as a leader at Neftekhimik in September, picking up just two points this season. That loss of form is surely temporary, but made it easier for the Nizhnekamsk management to use him to bring goaltender Dmitry Nikolayev to the club. The 23-year-old was a regular last season at SKA but is currently behind Nikita Serebryakov and Johan Mattsson in the pecking order. After a more than a year of trying to establish a first-choice goalie, Neftekhimik will hope that Nikolayev is the man for the job.

Goldobin hits 30

Nikolai Goldobin continues to lead the KHL scoring race – and the Spartak man reached 30 points for the season in just 19 games. The 28-year-old is well on course to improve on his career best 39 points for Metallurg in 2021-2022 and under Alexei Zhamnov, Goldobin is showing signs off adding consistency to undoubted skills.

Atanasov shoots to top of All-Star poll

Goldobin reached 30 points in the week that voting started for the Fonbet KHL All-Star game, and it’s no surprise that he is among the early leaders in that poll. However, he found himself behind Torpedo youngster Vasily Atanasov in the selection of forwards for Team Bobrov. Atanasov emerged as a key part of the Torpedo team last season and his impressive start to the current campaign saw him pick up more votes than any other forward in the league during the first days of polling. Dynamo’s Nikita Gusev was the third man to reach 1,000 votes, with Lada goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky also breaking through four figures to lead the way for Team Tarasov.

The 2023 All-Star Game will take place in St. Petersburg on Dec. 9 and 10. Voting for the first group of players is on-going, and you can make your choices here.