Champion returns, championship final starts
A former Gagarin Cup-winning head coach is back in the KHL, while the inaugural 3x3 championship reaches the final phase. Read on for more of last week’s main stories.
Bob’s back
Bob Hartley is back in the KHL as newly-appointed head coach at Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The Canadian, 64, previously worked with Avangard from 2018-2022, winning the Gagarin Cup in 2021. In total, he coached 294 games with Hawks, winning 177. Hartley also has a Stanley Cup, won with Colorado in 2001. When Hartley left Omsk, he announced he was retiring from coaching and has spent the last three seasons doing media work. But the chance to take over at the defending Gagarin Cup champion proved too tempting to resist.
Fast start to 3x3 finals
It took just 15 seconds to score the opening goal of the KHL 3x3 Championship finals. Ak Bars forward Yury Muravyov did the honors, opening the scoring in a 7-2 win over Metallurg. That convincing win over the second seed reinforced Ak Bars’s status as favorite after it topped the regular-season standings. The opening day also brought victory for Salavat Yulaev over Avangard (3-2) and a comeback 5-4 success for Traktor against Dinamo Minsk. The final continues as a group stage until Saturday, with the top four teams advancing to Sunday’s semi-finals and medal games.
Game of the Year
Next Sunday, July 13, sees an NHL vs KHL showdown in an exhibition game in Moscow. The Game of the Year, first played last summer, is back – pitting a team of Russian NHLers against a KHL all-star roster. Vadim Shipachyov, the league’s all-time leader in games and scoring, will captain the KHL team, while Ilya Kovalchuk – whose last action was with Spartak in 2024 – is set to play. The NHLers will be captained by Alexander Ovechkin. This season’s Stanley Cup-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is on the preliminary roster, along with the likes of Evgeny Malkin, Artemy Panarin and Kirill Kaprizov.
Zhamnov stays at Spartak
Alexei Zhamnov signed a new three-year contract as Spartak’s head coach, keeping him in Moscow until 2028. Zhamnov has been in charge of the Red-and-Whites for two full seasons, reaching the second round of the playoffs both times. His teams won 92 of 158 games, including 13 from 23 in the playoffs. The Muscovites also announced the signing of forward Luke Lockhart from Kunlun. The 32-year-old center came to the KHL in 2017 and earned a place on China’s Olympic roster in 2022. Lockhart is Red Star’s record appearance maker with 446 games. Last season was his most productive with the Dragons, bringing 33 (16+17) points from 67 games.
Two Canadians for Ak Bars
After a quiet start to its summer recruitment campaign, Ak Bars unveiled two new Canadians last week. Forward Brandon Biro, 27, arrives from Seattle’s AHL affiliate in Coachella, where he had 34 (6+28) points in 56 regular season games. Biro played six NHL games for the Sabres, scoring twice. He’s joined by defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk, 28, who played in Finland for the Pelicans last year. Despite his team’s struggles in the Liiga, Kalynuk was productive from the blue line with 36 (10+26) points from 66 games. Earlier, he made 26 appearances for the Blackhawks, contributing 9 (4+5) points but spent the bulk of his North American career in the AHL (247 games, 56+127). Both players signed one-year deals in Kazan.
To Torpedo, via Moscow
Forward Yegor Sokolov was a CSKA player for two days – but will spend next season in Nizhny Novgorod. The 25-year-old winger left Traktor’s junior set-up as a teenager and made his NHL debut for Ottawa in 2021/2022. However, he never established himself in the big league and played the last two years in the AHL. On Tuesday, CSKA announced a one-year contract, but on Thursday he was traded to Torpedo. In return, the Muscovites claim the KHL rights to Nikolai Kovalenko, currently with San Jose in the NHL.
Goalie Martin to CSKA
One arrival who is staying at CSKA is goalie Spencer Martin. The 30-year-old was twice named to Canada’s U18 rosters, winning gold in 2013. Drafted by Colorado that year, he made 66 NHL appearances in six seasons with the Avalanche, Vancouver, Columbus and Carolina, but never secured a first-choice spot. His move to Moscow will be his first taste of European hockey.
Kunlun moves to Petersburg
Kunlun Red Star, which has played the last five seasons in Mytishchi, is heading north. The Dragons agreed to play the 2025/2026 season at SKA Arena in St. Petersburg. As a result, the largest hockey arena in the world will be home to KHL action in the coming campaign, despite SKA’s decision to return to its original Ice Palace.
