Metallurg wins first trophy, Dragons confirm head coach
The first pre-season tournament of 2025 went to Metallurg, triumphant at the Minsk Cup. Shanghai Dragons unveiled a World Championship-winning head coach and announced their first players for the coming campaign. SKA also made big signings, while Barys began its rebuild.
Gallant confirmed as Dragons’ new head coach
Perhaps the worst-kept secret of the summer, Gerard Gallant will be head coach of the new-look Shanghai Dragons. Talk had linked the Canadian World Champion with the post since the end of last season and this week the deal was confirmed at last. Gallant, 61, led Canada to gold at the Covid-affected 2021 IIHF World Championship and was also an assistant on the Canadians’ champion team in Moscow in 2007. In the NHL, he took Vegas to the Stanley Cup final in the franchise’s first year, losing out to Alexander Ovechkin’s Capitals but winning the coach of the year award. He also worked with Columbus, Florida and the New York Rangers.
Shanghai secures new players
Following Gallant’s arrival, the Petersburg-bound Dragons also began confirming their roster. Defenseman Doyle Somerby continues with the franchise, having previously been with Kunlun for two seasons. He’s joined by Jake Bischoff, a 31-year-old American who captained the Henderson Silver Knights in the AHL for the past two seasons. Forward Gage Quinney, another former Silver Knight, is also joining the team. KHL experience comes from goalie Andrei Kareyev (Dinamo Minsk and Vityaz last season), and forwards Nick Merkley (Avtomobilist), Nikita Popugayev (Lada) and Ryan Spooner (Avangard). Later in the week, the club confirmed that goalie Patrik Rybar would return and also announced Pavel Akolzin and Alexander Bryntsev.
SKA recruits AHL forwards
Rocco Grimaldi, who was top scorer at the 2023 IIHF World Championship with the USA, is joining SKA. The forward, now 32, had 14 (7+7) points in the tournament as the Americans finished fourth in Tampere. Earlier in his career, he enjoyed success in junior events, twice winning U18 gold and adding a World Junior triumph in 2013. However, he struggled to parlay that into an established role in the NHL and played more in the AHL during his pro career. Last season he had 60 (18+42) points in 72 games for Cleveland. The Petersburg team also added Canadian forward Joseph Blandini to the ranks. The versatile 32-year-old can play on the wing or in the center. In North America he spent much of his career in the AHL, and was with Toronto Marlies last season (35 points from 60 games).
Barys begins rebuild
After finishing at the foot of the regular season standings, Barys is looking for something new. This week saw imports return to the Kazakh club, which largely dispensed with foreign players early in the 2024/2025 season. Goalie Olivier Rodrigue, 25, is coming to help cover for the injured Nikita Boyarkin. He was named best goalie at the 2018 World U18s and was drafted by Edmonton. He made his first NHL appearances last season, but primarily featured in the AHL. The Canadian has some experience in Europe, representing Austria’s Graz in 2020/2021. The Kazakhs also signed Mike Vecchione, whose summer move to Traktor proved short-lived, and heavyweight defenseman Ian McCoshen, previously with Kunlun. Young Kazakh defenseman Dmitry Breus, 21, arrives on loan from Torpedo.
Leivo leaves Ufa
Record-breaking goalscorer Josh Leivo is moving on from Salavat Yulaev after both parties agreed to cancel his contract. Last season, the Canadian scored 49 goals in regular season, breaking Sergei Mozyakin’s record. In total, he has 122 KHL appearances, 70 goals and 72 assists. Since his departure was confirmed, Leivo has been strongly linked with a move to Traktor, which released summer signing Mike Vecchione to Barys in order to free up an import slot.
Gusev to stay at Dynamo
Nikita Gusev will be the fulcrum of Dynamo Moscow’s offense for another season. As is becoming traditional, the 2018 Olympic champion delayed signing an extension in Moscow to explore the possibility of a return to the NHL. However, with no suitable offer emerging, he inked a one-year deal with the Blue-and-Whites last week.
Goldobin placed on waivers
Nikolai Goldobin looks set to leave Spartak after the Moscow club placed him on waivers last week. The former San Jose and Vancouver forward enjoyed two productive seasons in Red-and-White, twice leading the team in scoring. But that association, and his effective partnership with Pavel Poryadin, is now at an end. The 29-year-old is likely to remain in the KHL, but at this late stage of the recruitment process clubs may struggle to fit his salary within their cap space.
Metallurg wins Minsk Cup
The first summer tournament is in the books. The Fonbet Minsk Cup saw Metallurg come out on top, defeating Admiral on Sunday to secure top spot in the four-team event. Andrei Razin’s team began with a 6-0 thrashing of Lada, then beat host club Dinamo Minsk 3-1. That set up a gold-medal decider in the final game of the event. Roman Kantserov and teenage defenseman Nikita Poltavchuk both had 1+1 as Magnitka secured a 4-2 victory and the first hardware of pre-season.
Huge crowds for warm-up games
Just because it’s summer, doesn’t mean it’s not time for hockey. Ak Bars played its first warm-up game in Kazan and attracted an almost capacity crowd to the Tatneft Arena for the visit of Neftekhimik. Then in Novosibirsk, more than 10,000 fans came to watch Sibir take on Sokol Krasnoyarsk as Vadim Yepanchintsev’s team began its pre-season schedule.
Pre-season focus falls on Omsk
The next summer tournament starts Wednesday when Avangard hosts the Blinov Cup. Gagarin Cup winner Lokomotiv, Severstal, Sibir and Neftekhimik are coming to Omsk to contest the five-team round robin event.
