Down to the final four

Last week saw the conclusion of round two of the 2025 KHL playoffs. Now just four teams are left in the race for the Gagarin Cup. Meanwhile, after the season comes to an end, others are beginning to formalize their plans for 2025/2026.

Advantage Ufa

The Gagarin Cup semi-finals got underway Sunday with Lokomotiv hosting Salavat Yulaev. Against expectations, the visitor grabbed a 3-1 victory. For the second series in a row, Loko goalie Daniil Isayev was beaten by the first shot he faced. The home team tied it up early in the second period and piled the pressure on the Ufa net without success. Then, in the last 10 minutes, goals from Mikhail Naumenkov and Alexander Chmelevski gave Salavat Yulaev the opening game. Salavat Yulaev also dominates the scoring race, with Sheldon Rempal in front on 19 points, ahead of team-mates Josh Leivo and Scott Wilson (15 each). Leivo has missed the last three games through injury. 

Traktor to face Dynamo

The second Gagarin Cup semi-final sees Traktor play Dynamo Moscow. It’s the third meeting between these two in the KHL playoffs. The first was in the 2013 final, with Oleg Znarok’s Muscovites prevailing 4-2 to lift the cup for the second time against a Traktor team that including youthful forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov and Valery Nichushkin. Last season the teams met again in the second round and Traktor swept Dynamo. The series starts in Chelyabinsk today and the home team is boosted by the return of Grigory Dronov, the second highest-scoring defenseman in this year’s playoffs behind Mitch Miller of Ak Bars. 

Comtois shoots Dynamo past Ak Bars

Dynamo is back in the last four for the first time since that 2013 final. Max Comtois potted a hat-trick in Kazan to see the Muscovites past Ak Bars in six games. Effective scoring made the difference in the last game of the series, with the Blue-and-Whites scoring six goals off 19 shots and once again flexing its impressive power play. The 6-1 success was out of keeping with a tightly-matched series, but it moves Alexei Kudashov’s team into new territory. Comtois’ hat-trick takes him to 13 post season points, placing him fourth in playoff scoring.

Two game sevens

The final action in round two happened on Wednesday with game sevens in Yaroslavl and Ufa. Salavat Yulaev got past Spartak despite blowing a 2-0 lead; Alexei Vasilevsky potted his second GWG in two games as the Bashkirs became only the sixth team to recover a 1-3 deficit and win a KHL playoff series. Avangard was close to becoming the seventh team to do so but fell to Lokomotiv in the second period of overtime. Byron Froese got the winner on 86:13, ending the longest ever game seven in KHL history.  

Guy Boucher staying at Avangard

Alexei Sopin, GM at Avangard, confirmed that head coach Guy Boucher and his assistant Dave Barr will be staying for two more seasons with the Hawks. After a tempestuous season of coaching changes, which saw Omsk in danger of missing the playoffs until Boucher came in to steer a storming run in 2025. Boucher himself is already planning for next season: “We need to strengthen our defensive line,” he said. “Our defensemen need to look after the puck better, move it around, because our offense starts in their zone. Plus we need to reinforce at center.” 

Da Costa, Kaldis extend

French center Stephane da Costa is signed up for his 11th season in the KHL. The 35-year-old agreed a two-year extension with Avtomobilist. In 2024/2025 he had 57 (14+43) points in 66 regular season games, plus 4 (1+3) more points in the playoffs. That moves his KHL total to 494 (203+291) points in 571 games for CSKA, Lokomotiv, Ak Bars and the Motormen. Another import, Canadian defenseman Yanni Kaldis, signed a two-year extension with Severstal. Last season he had 23 (3+20) points in 60 games, taking him to 47 (10+37) in 127 career KHL appearances with Severstal and Dinamo Minsk.