Trans-Atlantic ties

Whether it’s elite-level Russian stars heading home, or top prospects at the draft, this is a busy time of year in Europe and North America.

NHL veteran comes to Barys

Nathan Beaulieu is the new key player on the Barys D-core. The 31-year-old Canadian has almost 500 NHL games in a career that took in spells with Montreal, Buffalo, Winnipeg, Pittsburgh and Anaheim. He came to Europe last season, playing a short spell with Kloten Flyers in Switzerland. Now he’s signed a one-year contract in Kazakhstan. Barys also added Nikita Kamalov to its defense. Kamalov spent last season with SKA.

Admiral extends Fiore

The Sailors secured a new one-year deal with forward Giovanni Fiore. The 27-year-old Canadian led his team in goals last season with 15, and finished with 26 points from 63 games in his rookie KHL campaign.

Elynuik joins Red Star

Canadian center Hudson Elynuik is on his way to Kunlun Red Star, adding some serious physicality to the Dragons’ offense. Standing at 195 cm and weighing in at 94 kg, he’s built his game around his obvious presence in the danger zone. Prolific in juniors with the Spokane Chiefs, he then became something of a project for the Maple Leafs. However, he was never quite able to break into the NHL team and has spent the bulk of his career to date in the AHL. His move to Kunlun represents his first contract outside of North America. In addition, Kunlun added former Dynamo Moscow goalie Konstantin Volkov on a one-year deal. Last season, two of Volkov’s five wins came against the Dragons.

Michkov to Flyers

Rising star Matvei Michkov is off to the NHL. The 19-year-old agreed his departure from SKA, although the Petersburg club will retain his KHL rights. He is now poised to join the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted him in the first round in 2023. During his KHL career to date, Michkov spent much of his time on loan at Sochi where he put up 61 (28+33) points in 74 games. Forty-one of those points came last season. In addition, he had 5 (2+3) points in 17 games for SKA, as well as featuring for Team Russia.

NHL vs KHL stars on July 20

Pre-season is starting a bit early this year, with a big game on the way on July 20. Moscow’s CSKA Arena is set to host an All-Star battle between the top Russian players in the KHL and their NHL counterparts. Team NHL brings home several of the biggest stars of recent years: Ovechkin, Malkin, Stanley Cup-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. There will also be a host of favorites who emerged through the KHL, such as Artemy Panarin, Evgeny Dadonov, Alexander Romanov or Yegor Chinakhov. For Team KHL, we have a mix of experience – Kovalchuk, Radulov, Shipachyov – and rising stars such as Vasily Atanasov, Bogdan Konyushkov or Maxim Dorozhko. The show promises to be a spectacular curtain-raiser before the pre-season action gets started in earnest.

KHLers in NHL draft

The weekend’s NHL draft saw 10 players with KHL experience selected. SKA prospect Ivan Demidov was first to go, picked at #5 by the Canadiens. He has just six games in the league so far, but is poised to add to that in the coming months as he continues his development here. Torpedo defenseman Anton Silayev, selected at #10 by the Devils, has the most KHL experience with 63 games and 11 (3+8) points. His team-mate Nikita Artamonov, a second-round pick for the Hurricanes, has 55 games (23 points) and Gagarin Cup-winning goalie Ilya Nabokov (Metallurg) also went in the second round, chosen by the Avalanche. Dynamo’s exciting forward Igor Chernyshov (39 games, five points) was taken by San Jose. Other players who have featured in the KHL include Yegor Surin (three appearances for Lokomotiv, a first-round pick for the Predators), Matvei Shuravin (11 games, two points for CSKA, third-round pick for Florida), Dmitry Gamzin (15 games in goal for CSKA, fourth-round selection for the Islanders), Alexander Syratsky (three appearances for Metallurg, fourth-round pick for the Hurricanes) and Timur Kol (two game for SKA, sixth-round pick for Carolina). Belarusian goalie Pavel Moisevich, who played 14 games for SKA last season, was picked up by Vegas in the third round.

Five imports confirmed

It’s official. Russian KHL teams can hire five imports again in the coming season. The change, which follows a single season with teams limited to three foreign players, was confirmed last week by Russia’s Ministry of Sport. Full details were posted on a government website on Wednesday, announcing that from next season Russian teams will be allowed to use up to five players ineligible to play for the national team. No team can hire more than one import goalie.