CSKA hires Gagarin Cup winner
The big news of the week was CSKA’s new head coach. Elsewhere, imports are on the move in Moscow and Traktor has an incoming goalie to replace Zach Fucale.
Nikitin goes to CSKA
As widely expected, Igor Nikitin is CSKA’s new head coach. He returns to Moscow, where he was behind the bench from 2017 to 2021 after walking away from Lokomotiv following last month’s Gagarin Cup triumph. Nikitin also brings much of his coaching staff from Yaroslavl: assistant Dmitry Yushkevich, goalie coach Rashit Davydov and physical conditioning coach Dmitry Pirozhkov are all heading to the capital. Nikitin has a five-year contract at CSKA, where he won the Gagarin Cup in 2019. In his previous spell with the club, Nikitin had three years as assistant to Dmitry Kvartalnov before stepping up to the head coach role for four years.
New goalie for Traktor
Traktor’s busy summer continues. The Gagarin Cup runner-up has seen several significant players move on since the end of the final, but has also reacted fast to find replacement. And goalie Chris Driedger, 31, is the latest new acquisition, ready to replace Minsk-bound Zach Fucale. The Canadian owns a World Championship silver medal from 2022 and, at that time, he looked like an established NHL netminder after a couple of active seasons with Florida and Seattle. Since then, though, things have not gone so well: apart from a couple of games with the Kraken, he’s only played in the AHL and has represented three organizations – Kraken, Panthers and Jets – in the past two seasons. His first experience of playing in Europe could be a much-needed reboot.
Two new imports for Dynamo
Devin Brosseau and Fredrik Claesson will take two of the import spots at Dynamo Moscow in the coming season. Swedish defenseman Claesson makes a short move across the capital after playing the last three seasons with CSKA. The 32-year-old looks a good fit for Dynamo, a team blessed with two-way talent but light on authentic stay-at-home D-men. Brosseau, meanwhile, is a proven goalscorer in the KHL after his spells with Kunlun and Amur. He potted a club record 23 goals for the Dragons in 2023/2024, and added 13 more despite the Tigers’ difficult season last time. Dynamo is waiting to confirm the future of Max Comtois and Dmitry Rashevsky among its free agent forwards, and Brosseau’s arrival could compensate for the loss of at least one of them.
Radulov stays at Loko
Alexander Radulov agreed a one-year extension with Gagarin Cup winner Lokomotiv. The veteran forward was this year’s playoff MVP and finished with 50 (25+25) points from 81 games. Loko also signed extended two-year deals with three more champions: forward Denis Alexeyev and defensemen Alexei Bereglazov and Nikita Cherepanov.
