Dynamo season preview: attacking reinforcements and an answer to the goalie question
Our club-by-club guide to the new KHL season continues with a look at Dynamo Moscow. Despite losing the club captain to a capital city rival, the Blue-and-Whites have added even more firepower and hired an import goalie.
Last season
The 2023-2024 campaign left Dynamo with mixed feelings. On the plus side, the regular season was impressive: consistently strong, and eventually topping the KHL standings. However, the playoffs were disappointing again. After beating Dinamo Minsk in the first round, the Muscovites suffered a sweep against Traktor in the second.
Recruitment
Arrivals:
Goalies: Hunter Miska (Straubing, DEL) Evgeny Yaroslavlev (Zauralye, VHL). Defensemen: Kirill Adamchuk (Ak Bars), Yegor Nikitin (Admiral, back from loan), Ruslan Petrishchev (Neftekhimik), Artyom Sergeyev (SKA). Forwards: Nikita Buruyanov (Neftekhimik, back from loan), Max Comtois (Chicago, AHL), Artyom Mikheyev (Sibir), Anton Slepyshev (CSKA), Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi (SKA).
Departures:
Goalies: Konstantin Volkov (Kunlun Red Star), Ilya Konovalov (Admiral), Yaroslav Ozolin (Neftekhimik, back from loan). Defensemen: Yegor Martynov (Sibir), Andrei Mironov (Spartak), Magomed Sharakanov (Lada, loan). Forwards: Ilya Kablukov, Ivan Muranov (Admiral), Andrei Nikonov (HC Sochi), Yegor Petukhov (Admiral), Igor Chernyshov (Sagino, OHL).
Top 3 signings
Max Comtois
This was one of the big trades of the summer. Comtois has 212 NHL appearances for 87 (38+49) points from his time with Anaheim and Carolina. In the AHL, he played a further 112 games for 78 (34+44) points. He also has a fine medal haul from international play. By the age of 20 he had played at World U18s and two World Juniors. In 2018 he won gold, in 2020 he captained Canada's youngsters. It wasn’t long before he translated that success to the adult game, with World Championship gold in 2021 and silver in 2022.
Anton Slepyshev
Three-time Gagarin Cup winner Anton Slepyshev spent the last six seasons with CSKA. He’s a versatile forward, effective at both ends of the ice. Slepyshev worked with Dynamo’s head coach Alexei Kudashov at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
Artyom Sergeyev
Sergeyev should be Dynamo’s replacement for long-serving captain Andrei Mironov. Artyom won two Gagarin Cups with CSKA and spent last season at SKA, where he was the first-choice D-man on the penalty kill. At Dynamo, he should improve the balance between stay-at-home defensemen and two-way players like Igor Ozhiganov, Brennan Menell and Daniil Pylenkov.
Coaching
Alexei Kudashov signed a new two-year contract this summer. He’s been at the club since 2021. In that time, he’s led Dynamo to 123 wins from 210 games (58.5%), won last season’s Continental Cup and twice reached the second round of the playoffs (2022, 2024).
Goaltending
Dynamo’s goalie brigade has been transformed this summer. Konstantin Volkov left for Kunlun Red Star, and Ilya Konovalov was traded to Admiral..
To replace them, Dynamo signed Hunter Miska, who played the last two seasons in Germany having previously featured in the NHL with Arizona and Colorado. In addition, 21-year-old Maxim Motorygin remains for another season after a promising debut campaign in the KHL.
Defense
Andrei Mironov’s departure for Spartak was a blow to Dynamo. But the Blue-and-Whites maintained the rest of the D core and added more experience in the shape of Kirill Adamchuk (Ak Bars) and Artyom Sergeyev (SKA). The return from loan of young Yegor Nikitin is also noteworthy. At Admiral last season he played 35 games and scored one goal ... against Dynamo!
Forwards
There were several changes on the forward line as well. Experienced Ilya Kablukov didn’t agree a new contract, Ivan Muranov and Yegor Petukhov went to Admiral and young Igor Chernyshov is going to North America.
However, there are quality signings coming in. First and foremost, Comtois and Slepyshev are top-class forwards. In addition, Artyom Mikheyev arrives from Sibir, where last season he was a big part of the second line and scored a career-best 13 goals.
More importantly, the club retained its key players. Nikita Gusev and Cedric Paquette agreed new contracts, while Eric O’Dell and Jordan Weal agreed extensions.
Youngsters
The revelation for Dynamo last season was young goalie Maxim Motorygin. During the regular season he rivalled Ilya Konovalov for the #1 role, and despite the arrival of Miska we can expect to see more of him between the piping.
Among the skaters, Yegor Rimashevsky stands out: he played 54 games and put up 17 (6+11) points.
In pre-season, 17-year-old Ivan Ryabkin was called up to the first team. He was the JHL’s rookie of the year last term and is rated as one of the most talented players born in 2007. In the summer, Ryabkin scored in a warm-up game for the first team.
Expectations
Dynamo’s recruitment has been excellent. Maybe there are some questions around Miska’s signing, but each of the skaters to join should make the team stronger. Dynamo will again be among the contenders to top the Western Conference and look capable of making a step forward in the playoffs. Reaching the last four feels like a minimum requirement.
