Minsk makes major signing

A week after Alexander Radulov’s big move, another former Ak Bars superstar announced that his future lies in Belarus. In addition, the 2024-2025 regular season is out.

Shipachyov heads to Belarus

Another week, another blockbuster trade. Vadim Shipachyov is set to continue his pursuit of Sergei Mozyakin’s all-time KHL scoring record with Dinamo Minsk. The Belarusians acquired the forward from Ak Bars, where he had 44 (13+31) points in 62 regular season games, plus two more points in the playoffs. That moves Shipachyov to 920 (289+631) points in his KHL career. He needs eight points to match Mozyakin’s all-time record. Shipachyov also led the KHL in scoring three times, and was the 2015 playoff top scorer with 21 points. That helped him to the first of two Gagarin Cups in a hugely successful career that began with Severstal in the KHL’s first season.

Schedule confirmed

The KHL published the regular season schedule for the 2024-2025 Fonbet KHL Championship. It’s set to be another record-breaking campaign, with 197 game days from Sep. 3 to March 23. The Opening Cup between Metallurg and Lokomotiv ushers in 97 consecutive days of action before the first of three planned pauses to accommodate the Channel 1 Cup in mid-December. Later, the traditional New Year break runs from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2, and there’s a further gap from Feb. 7-10 for the All-Star Game.

As before, teams will play 68 games a season. However, the extra time in the schedule means on average we’ll have four games a day. Most months will see about 20 fewer games, making it easier to give all teams an even schedule.

2024-2025 schedule: the longest regular season in the league’s history

Center heads to Ufa

Nathan Todd is the latest addition to Salavat Yulaev’s offense. While the 28-year-old Canadian isn’t a direct replacement for Ivan Drozdov, who moved to CSKA in the summer, he arrives with something of a point to prove. Over the last four seasons he’s scored consistently in the AHL, most recently 55 points in 69 games for the San Jose Barracuda. However, that hasn’t translated into an NHL call despite leading his team in scoring last term. An effective center, he’s likely to slot onto the second line in Ufa.

Wolves call up Canadian prospect

Neftekhimik’s newest import is Luca Profaka, a 22-year-old Canadian defenseman. The unusual surname reflects his Croatian heritage (and let’s not forget that Croatian international Borna Rendulic has produced some good results in the KHL in previous years). Profaka, though, is at a very different stage of his career. He has spent some time in the minors in North America, where his reputation is that of a stay-at-home blue liner. True, his final season in the OHL with Guelph Storm produced 25 points from 65 games, but generally his scoring is not all that eye-catching. In his AHL efforts for the San Diego Gulls he contributed 6 (1+5) points in 74 games. He’s on a one-year deal in Nizhnekamsk.

Torpedo adds defensive option

Torpedo’s defense last season showed plenty of promise, but possibly lacked some crucial experience at key moments. To increase Igor Larionov’s options, the club has acquired Markus Phillips, a 25-year-old Canadian who played U18 and U20 World Championships for his country. Drafted by the Kings, he never cracked the NHL – and that’s where the story begins to run askew. A move to Europe led to a season in Finland with Assat, but most recently he featured in Hungary with Fehervar AV19 in the Austria-based Alpine League. That move brought an upswing in form and attracted Torpedo’s attention: how well will he adapt to life in the KHL?

Halbgewachs is a Dragon

After signing up a clutch of defensemen, Kunlun Red Star added its first forward of the summer. Jayden Halbgewachs, described on the club’s socials as “a small Canadian with a hard-to-pronounce last name”, signed a one-year deal. The 27-year-old played last season in Sweden with Frolanda, where he had 12 (4+8) points in 25 games. A year earlier he helped Vaxjo Lakers to the Swedish Championships. Earlier he had three seasons with San Jose, mostly playing for the Barracuda.