Enter the Dragons

It was a big week for one KHL team, with a new identity and a new GM. Elsewhere, we saw our first full-on pre-season action ahead of the first tournament of the summer, starting today in Minsk.

New Look for Dragons

Farewell, Kunlun Red Star; Welcome, Shanghai Dragons! It’s a new era for the KHL’s Chinese franchise. Fresh ownership, a move to the SKA Arena in St. Petersburg and now a new identity. For the coming season, the Shanghai Dragons will fly the flag with a new logo and new image.

Varitsky is Dragons’ GM

The new-look Shanghai Dragons also made a key step in preparing for the upcoming season. Although the club has yet to confirm its head coach and has a bare handful of players locked into the roster, last week brought confirmation that Igor Varitsky is to be the new GM. Previously, Varitsky worked with Vityaz, where he established a reputation for uncovering high-quality imports. The likes of Miro Aaltonen, Niko Ojamaki, Harri Sateri, Jakub Jerabek and Daniel Audette all had successful careers with Vityaz, while Justin Danforth’s performance on the team earned him a World Championship call and an NHL shot. More recently, Derek Barach and Scott Wilson have established themselves in the KHL via Vityaz. Can Varitsky work his magic again and get the Dragons into the playoffs at last?

Kravets to Lead Barys

Mikhail Kravets, who was the Kunlun head coach last season, is taking over behind the bench at Barys. The 61-year-old has 379 games as a head coach in the KHL, with 166 wins. His coaching staff includes Talgat Zhailauov, Alexander Savchenko, Evgeny Korolyov, Denis Malinin and Sergei Tambulov. 

Warm-up Wins for Dinamo Minsk, Ak Bars, Admiral

Last week saw the first pre-season games involving players on one-way KHL contracts. Each game pitted a KHL team against VHL opposition. First, Dinamo Minsk edged Magnitka in a shoot-out with Dmitry Kvartalnov running the rule over the depth in the Bison’s roster. Then Ak Bars handed debuts to its new imports in a 4-3 win over Neftyanik in the Tatar club’s traditional trip to Almetyevsk. Finally, Admiral defeated Molot Perm 3-1 on two goals from Dmitry Zavgorodny. 

Minsk Cup Starts Monday

This week brings the first pre-season tournament of 2025: the Minsk Cup. It’s a four-team round robin event in the Belarusian capital, albeit with a slightly unusual schedule. The first three days (Aug. 11-13) will see Lada, Admiral and host Dinamo Minsk play each other. Then Metallurg arrives to play each team in turn from Aug. 14-17. The final game on the schedule is Metallurg vs Admiral on Sunday, Aug. 17. The coming week also brings some more warm-up games: Ak Bars faces Tatar neighbor Neftekhimik on Aug. 14. Sibir takes on two VHL teams: Sokol (Aug. 16) and Dynamo Altai (Aug. 17). Also on Aug. 17, Dynamo Moscow plays Yunost Minsk of the Belarusian championship.