Vityaz season preview: new head coach, new imports and a young star

As the 2024-2025 season approaches, KHL.ru looks at how each team has been preparing over the summer. Vityaz, last year’s basement dweller, has a new head coach and was the first club to sign up a full quota of five imports. It also added some interesting Russian talent in search of big improvements.

Last season

The 2023-2024 season was a bust for Vityaz. In summer, the club promoted Vyacheslav Butsayev’s assistant, Alexander Zavyalov, to the head coach’s job. Zavyalov also helped Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s Ak Bars team to the title in 2018, but had no prior experience as a KHL head coach. The experiment was not a success: 11 losses in 13 games brought a swift departure from the club. Alexei Tertyshny stepped up for a couple of games, then Dmitry Ryabykin was appointed. He made some progress in improving the situation, but not enough to get his team anywhere near the playoff places. After the turn of the year, Vityaz never got higher than 20th in the overall standings and by Feb. 6 there was no mathematical hope of reaching post season.

Recruitment

Arrivals:

Defense: Grigory Vashchenko (SKA), Dean Stewart (Manitoba, AHL). Forwards Nicholas Baptiste (Tappara, FIN), Dmitry Buchelnikov (SKA), Frederik Gauthier (Ajoie, SUI), Yegor Morozov (Admiral), Andrei Chivilyov (SKA, loan).

Departures:

Defense: Nikolai Timashov. Forwards: Vitaly Popov, Igor Ugolnikov (Admiral), Scott Wilson (Metallurg), Alexander Yaremchuk (Avangard).

Top 3 signings

Nicholas Baptiste

Baptiste arrives in the KHL as a Finnish champion: last season he helped Tappara take gold. He played 66 games and had 33 (16+17) points. Baptiste spent the last three years in Europe, having previously played alongside Nick Bailen at Kolner Haie in Germany before joining Tappara’s Tampere neighbor Ilves. He’s surely intended as a replacement for Scott Wilson, who left Vityaz for Metallurg. He’s a proven goalscorer, potting more than 20 in his seasons with Ilves and Rochester in the AHL. And, back in 2013, he was second in goals for Team Canada at the U18 Worlds, beaten only by Connor McDavid.

Dmitry Buchelnikov

Reaching an agreement with SKA to sign one of the KHL’s hottest prospects represents great business for Vityaz. Dmitry spent last season on loan at Admiral, where he had 29 (13+16) points in 55 games on his way to a rookie of the year award. He can expect plenty of ice time for Vityaz as well, and there are hopes that he will develop into a key player on the team.

Frederik Gauthier

Gauthier is another Canadian with an impressive resume. He was a World Junior champion in 2015, helping Canada beat Russia in the final. He’s won a Calder Cup, played more than 200 times in the NHL and was voted best defensive forward in his junior league. Although his scoring has never been exception, his role is elsewhere: a powerfully built (2m tall, almost 110 kg) destructive force, hard-hitting and aggressive on the PK. Gauthier is here to ensure that the Vityaz offense packs a punch.

Coaching

Pavel Desyatkov was on Oleg Bratash’s coaching staff as Lada made an impressive return to the KHL. There’s risk involved: Desyatkov, like Zavyalov last summer, has no experience as a head coach in the KHL. However, he did a good job in the VHL with Sokol Krasnoyarsk, leading the team to the Petrov Cup final.

Goaltending

Even in a disappointing season, the Vityaz goaltending was encouraging. Maxim Dorozhko and Dmitry Shikin frequently saved their team in difficult circumstances. Both of them are back for the coming season, so fans can have faith in a reliable last line of defense.

Defense

There’s no Nikolai Timashov after he left the club in the summer. Dean Stewart is earmarked as his replacement after joining from AHL outfit Manitoba. It will be Stewart’s first experience of European hockey. Much of any potential success will depend on how the new coaching staff is able to assemble a consistent defense after last season’s problems. On the plus side, the core of last year’s team is still together so the players should be familiar with each other’s game.

Offense

On paper, Vityaz looks stronger this year than last based on a simple comparison of “ins” and “outs.” The arrivals of Baptiste, Gauthier and Buchelnikov have already been discussed. In addition, Andrei Chivilyov arrives on loan from SKA. He earned a good reputation as he emerged at Neftekhimik but found himself short of game time in Petersburg. With Vityaz, he can expect a bigger role on the team. Apart from Wilson, Alexander Yaremchuk and Igor Ugolnikov also moved on: Yaremchuk was traded to Avangard, Ugolnikov to Admiral.

Youngsters

Desyatkov can call on several promising prospects. The only question is how willing he will be to utilize them. The two stand-outs are Stanislav Yarovoi, who made his debut in 2022-2023 but regressed a little last season, and Ivan Vorobyov, who arrived last summer.

On defense there’s Yaroslav Busygin, who has secured a first-team slot at the age of 21, and Kirill Vasiliev, who has played about 20 times in each of the last two seasons. Up front, Nikita Almazov, Ilya Anufriyev and Alexander Mirzabalayev are names to follow. Almazov played 37 times last season and potted his first KHL goal, while the other two managed a handful of games apiece and will be looking for more this term.

Expectations

The changes in the off-season give grounds for optimism. If the new guys settle in quickly and happily, Vityaz definitely has potential to compete for a playoff spot in the west. However, results will largely depend on how quickly the new head coach and his staff need to establish the team’s game and identity in the new season.