Season preview. Avtomobilist: Faith in the system and the arrival of Reid Boucher

KHL.ru continues its club-by-club previews of the upcoming season in Yekaterinburg with a look at Avtomobilist.

Last season

In 2024/2025, Avtomobilist was among the contenders at the top of the Eastern Conference for much of the season. In the end, The Motormen finished fourth, seven points adfift of Traktor in top spot. For the second season running, Avto faced Ak Bars in the playoffs, but this time Nikolai Zavarukhin’s men could not repeat their victory in 2024. The series went to seven games, but Ak Bars won the decider in overtime. 

Recruitment

Arrivals: 

Defensemen: Yaroslav Butsygin (Vityaz), Danill Malorosiyanov (Vityaz), Daniil Molodtsov (AKM, VHL). Forwards: Reid Boucher (Avangard), Maxim Velikov (Salavat Yulaev), Roman Gorbunov (Dinamo Minsk), Ivan Guskov (AKM, VHL), Yegor Chernikov (Lada)

Retained:

Goalies: Evgeny Alikin, Vladimir Galkin. Defensemen: Jesse Blacker, Daniil Valitov, Kirill Vorobyov, Yury Zhuravlyov, Sergei Zborovsky, Nikita Ishimnikov(пр), Evgeny Kashnikov, Maxim Osipov, Nikita Tryamkin, Nick Ebert. Forwards: Yegor Alexeyev, Alexei Byvaltsev, Curtis Valk , Anatoly Golyshev, Stephane da Costa, Maxim Denezhkin, Artyom Kashtanov, Semyon Kizimov, Brooks Macek, Ilya Ovchinnikov, Danil Romantsev, Vasily Filyayev, Stepan Khripunov, Alexander Sharov, Nikita Shashkov 

Departures: 

Defenseman: Darren Dietz (Dinamo Minsk). Forwards: Alexander Gordin (Gornyak UGMK, VHL), Vladimir Kuznetsov (Shanghai), Nick Merkley (Shanghai), Andrei Obidin (Lada), н. Раздьяконов Владислав (Gornyak UGMK, VHL)

Top 3 signings

Reid Boucher

Avto’s summer transfer activity focused on quality over quantity. The big signing was Reid Boucher. He’s a great goalscorer and a master of the power play. Last season wasn’t easy for him: injury in the summer, then a broken facial bone in late January. Yet despite missing several games, Boucher led the Hawks in goals and points, with 57 (33+24) from 65. Along the way he set a new club record for KHL goals at Avangard, overtaking Alexander Perezhogin.

Roman Gorbunov

Small, but relentlessly energetic, Gorbunov had a great season at Dinamo Minsk where he played a big part in helping Dmitry Kvartalnov’s crew reach the second round of the playoffs. The 28-year-old forward has cleared 30 points in his last two seasons and should secure a role in the top 9 for Avtomobilist.

Yaroslav Busygin

Busygin is just 22, but he made great strides with Vityaz last season. Among the D-core, only Jeremy Roy was more productive. Busygin got time on the power play, and enjoyed comfortably his most productive season to date – 19 (6+13) points in 59 games.

Coaching

This season will be Nikolai Zavarukhin’s fourth in charge of Avtomobilist. He currently leads the Motormen for games (246) and wins (136) in the KHL. He’ll be assisted by his cousin Alexei, who previously worked as head coach at Spartak and Traktor, winning a bronze medal during his time in Chelyabinsk.

Goaltending

The Alikin-Galkin combo is one of the strongest in the KHL going into the new season. Last season they shared game time almost equal: Evgeny Alikin played 43 games, Vladimir Galkin 41. And their stats were equally impressive: 20 wins against 19, 92.1% vs 91.8% of shots saved and GAAs of 2.24 and 2.36. Both had assists, and both managed three shut-outs. 

Defense

The club’s transfer policy has not indulged in big changes in recent years, and that’s apparent from the defense. Darren Dietz moves on after failing to establish himself in Yekaterinburg. Busygin and Daniil Malorosiyanov arrive from Vityaz. Everyone else remains in place, albeit after a brief “excursion” to and from Avangard in Jesse Blacker’s case. The other defensemen agreed new contracts, or in the case of Yury Zhuravlyov and Sergei Zborovsky were already signed up for 2025/2026.

Forwards

It’s a similar story for the forwards, where all the key players remain in place. There were three departures: Andrei Obidin goes to Lada, while Shanghai Dragons acquired Nick Merkley and Vladimir Kuznetsov. However, it seems that the additions of Boucher and Gorbunov will more than compensate. The main question facing Avtomobilist at the start of the season is also linked to the offense: will Anatoly Golyshev play?

Prospects

Over the summer Avtomobilist didn’t just pick up two young defensemen from Vityaz. Busygin is 22, while Malorosiyanov is only 19 and spent almost the whole season with the first team. He finished with 6 assists and a +2 rating from 63 games. And there’s more. Maxim Velikov, 19, joins from Salavat Yulaev where the forward made his KHL debut last season and collected an assist. 

Among the homegrown options in Yekaterinburg, 20-year-old defensemen Nikita Ishimnikov and forward Artyom Kastanov stand out. Ishimnikov played 15 regular season games last season and got his first taste of the playoffs. Kashtanov, who stands at 2m, is already part of the first team: 57 regular season games (6+8) and a further seven in the playoffs (0+2).

What to expect

Avtomobilist will again be in contention around the summit in the East during the regular season, and it’s not impossible that Zavarukhin’s roster can parlay its prior experience together into claiming top spot in the conference. The playoffs are another matter, but this team has the potential to get through at least two rounds.