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Review of the season: Salavat Yulaev. Deja V-Ufa
For the second year in a row, Salavat Yulaev looked good in regular season but fell in the first round of the playoffs. KHL.ru continues its review of the season with a case of déjà vu in Ufa.
Salavat Yulaev started the season with a 3-2 win over Barys and continued to look consistent throughout the season. Initially, Alexander Chmelevski was the only import, but in the fall he was joined by forward Josh Leivo and defenseman Nicholas Meloche. Throughout the season, the team only once suffered a three-game losing streak, while its two longest winning runs came to five games.
In the first round of the playoffs, Salavat Yulaev faced Traktor and was expected to progress. However, for the second year running, Ufa fell to a team that finished behind it in the regular season. A year ago, after coming second in the East, the team lost to seventh-placed Admiral; this time Traktor repeated the trick, making the most of its opportunities to win in six games. The final game summed up the series: Salavat Yulaev led 2-0, but blew that lead and ended its season.
Best players
46 games, 47 (19+38) points
The Canadian had an unbelievable first season in Ufa. That’s not just about his stats, but also his influence on the team. He was a key figure on the power play, where he scored eight of his 19 goals. He often got in on clutch plays and was second in ice time with 19:36 on average. In the playoffs, Josh was the top scorer in the first round with 9 (4+5) points despite playing on a losing team.
55 games, 31 wins, 93.4% saves, GAA 1.86
Samonov joined the club in summer and had a busy first season in Ufa. As the undisputed #1 goalie, he played 55 games; previously he never had more than 39 appearances in a season. He proved equal to the task, tying with Ilya Nabokov for second place in the KHL by save percentage and boasting the third best GAA. His seven shut-outs tied with Nabokov and Daniil Isayev for second in the KHL. However, he couldn’t quite sustain that form into the playoffs, which contributed to his team’s early exit.
73 games, 63 (29+34) points
Chmelevski is one of the players who shapes the structure of Salavat Yulaev’s offense. In 2023-2024 he led the team in goals, assists and points. His six game-winners also outstripped his team-mates, and he was the team’s most effective man on the draw (winning 58.8% of face-offs). After his contract expired, he agreed an extension and looks set to be a foundation stone on next season’s team.
71 games, 56 (28+28) points
Drozdov came to Salavat Yulaev in 2022 with a reputation as a promising prospect. He spent his first year adapting to a new environment, but in his second his scoring exploded. He was just one goal behind leading scorer Chmelevski, regularly finding the net on the power play, at equal strength and even when shorthanded. Blessed with pace and quick hands, he was strong throughout the regular season and finished second in team scoring in the playoffs with 8 (4+4) points.
Coaching
This was Viktor Kozlov’s second full season as a KHL head coach and, judged by results, it seemed to mirror his first. However, coaching is about far more than raw figures, and the Salavat Yulaev management understands this: Kozlov was quickly invited back to lead the team into the coming season. Fans in Ufa appreciate the entertaining hockey his team plays, and Kozlov makes good use of his players’ strengths. Back-to-back playoff disappointments look more like coincidence than a baked-in failing. Nonetheless, the 2024-2025 season is crucial for Kozlov’s progress: a third playoff failure is unlikely to be tolerated.
Best game
There were many memorable performances in 2023-2024, such as a 7-2 win over Avangard, an 8-1 thrashing of Vityaz and a 6-2 success against future champion Metallurg. However, December’s trip to Moscow was the stand-out thanks to its Hollywood ending. Salavat Yulaev took an early lead against CSKA, but fell behind 2-1. After tying the game, the visitor allowed another goal a couple of minutes later and looked to be heading to defeat. Then came Josh Leivo. With 39 seconds on the clock, he sent the game to overtime. In the extras, as his team played with an empty net, he grabbed the winner.
Youngsters
Salavat Yulaev’s coaching staff used 10 u23 players last season. Four of them stood out, and had more than 30 games: defenseman Yaroslav Tsulygin (33 games, 2+2), and forwards Danil Alalykin (46 games, 3+13), Yegor Suchkov (54 games, 8+7) and Matvei Guskov (36 games, 2+5). Alalykin featured in the first team for a third season, Guskov arrived from CSKA in search of more game time and Suchkov showed great promise over the course of the campaign.
Summer work
We’ve not seen much from Ufa in the transfer market so far. The main news has been the extension for Chmelevski and Leivo. Last week’s addition of Nathan Todd from San Jose’s system adds options up front: Todd has 136 points from 215 AHL games.
The departures are more significant. Ilya Ezhov and Evgeny Biryukov are hanging up their skates, Pavel Koledov is moving to Avangard and Vyacheslav Leshchenko has joined Neftekhimik. The most notable losses, though, are Danil Bashkirov, who joins Metallurg after Salavat Yulaev would not match Magnitka’s offer, and the highly-promising Drozdov, traded to CSKA.
