Season review. Metallurg: a great offensive lineup for Razin’s third year

KHL.ru continues its club-by-club preview of the coming season. All the conditions are in place for Metallurg to perform better than a year ago.

Last Season

Not only did Metallurg fail to defend their championship title, but they also had to end the season far too early—after the very first round of the playoffs, something that hadn’t happened to them in the past five years. This result is not entirely unreasonable. First, despite many games missed by various players—including key ones—due to injuries, Metallurg still finished the regular season in a fairly high position: third in the East and fourth overall. Second, despite their high seeding, Magnitogorsk faced a very strong opponent in the first round—Omsk, who had a poor start to the season but hit excellent form by the end. Third, the outcome of the series was heavily influenced by avoidable individual mistakes. And in terms of gameplay, Metallurg, except for the first and second periods of the opening game, was in no way inferior to Avangard and often even superior.

Recruiting

The losses in Metallurg’s championship lineup were minimal, but the acquisitions were also limited. In fact, the team did not strengthen and even slightly weakened—not critically, but still. This summer, however, there are more departures and arrivals. While the numerical balance is negative, the qualitative balance is more likely positive.

Departures:
Goalie: Nikita Podskrebalin (Metallurg NK, VHL, trade). Defensemen: Nikita Kamalov (Severstal), Nikolai Timashov, Vladislav Yeryomenko (CSKA), Kirill Zhukov (Lada, loan). Forwards: Igor Geraskin (Admiral, trade), Evgeny Grigorenko, Troy Josephs (Sochi), Nikolai Mayorov (Torpedo, trade), Dmitry Moiseyev (Sochi), Borna Rendulic (Shanghai), Danila Yurov (Minnesota, NHL), Denis Zernov (CSKA, trade).

Arrivals:
Forwards: Derek Barach (Vityaz), Ruslan Iskhakov (CSKA, trade), Arseny Kovgorenya (Dinamo Minsk, trade via Admiral), Nikita Korotkov (Sibir), Vladimir Tkachyov (Avangard), Sergey Tolchinsky (SKA), Pavel Tyutnev (Zauralye, VHL)

Top 3 Signings

When Omsk terminated Vladimir Tkachyov’s contract, it was clear he wouldn’t remain unemployed for long. Tkachyov is, as they say, a rare commodity—one of the League’s top forwards, who not only plays excellently himself but is also able to improve his teammates’ performance.

Another very bright forward is Sergey Tolchinsky. If he falls short of Tkachyov in skill, it is only slightly. Last season was disrupted for both—Vladimir due to a serious injury, Sergey due to questionable treatment from the coaching staff. Neither of these reasons in the slightest diminishes their elite status.

Interestingly, Tkachyov and Tolchinsky joined Metallurg for free, even though they were not unrestricted free agents. More precisely, they weren’t free until their contracts with Avangard and SKA, respectively, were terminated. Another good forward, Derek Barak, also cost Magnitogorsk nothing—he was signed as a normal UFA.

Coaching

Last season’s failure of Metallurg should not negatively affect Andrei Razin’s status. Over that season, he surpassed Milos Riha and Andrei Nazarov in total wins and secured ninth place among the most successful coaches in KHL history. Just a dozen wins ahead of him is Andrei Skabelka, currently in eighth place. Among active coaches, only Alexei Kudashov, Vladimir Krikunov, and Igor Nikitin with Dmitry Kvartalnov rank higher than Razin.

Goalies

The Magnitogorsk goaltending squad will remain the same. Ilya Nabokov signed a contract with Colorado but will continue playing for Metallurg on loan. He will be supported by Alexander Smolin, who has improved significantly.

Defense

No major changes are expected in defense either. Vladislav Yeryomenko left for CSKA, but he missed more than half of last season due to injury, so he was not considered an essential part of the defensive lineup. Nikita Kamalov, who joined from Barys during last season and has now moved to Severstal, performed his duties reliably but cannot be called irreplaceable. All four defenders who averaged at least 16 minutes per game (Valery Orekhov, Robin Press, Alexei Maklyukov, and Artyom Minulin) remain on the roster.

Forwards

All of Metallurg’s newcomers are forwards. In addition to the three mentioned earlier, these include the skilled Ruslan Iskhakov from CSKA and the useful penalty-killer Nikita Korotkov from Sibir. Also added are Arseniy Kovgorenya and Pavel Tyutnev, though they are more for depth than guaranteed spots in the starting lineup.

In the core lineup, there are two significant losses (Denis Zernov and Danila Yurov) and two less critical ones (Igor Geraskin and Troy Josephs), but five very high-quality additions, plus developing young talent from the system. This suggests that an already formidable offensive unit in Magnitogorsk could become even more dynamic and unstoppable. If injuries do not pose major problems, Metallurg has the potential to become the highest-scoring team of the next season.

Prospects

Yurov, who progressed slowly under Ilya Vorobyov, immediately began to shine under Razin. In Razin’s second season in Magnitogorsk, Roman Kantserov also made a sharp breakthrough—just like Yurov a year earlier—becoming Metallurg’s top scorer. And these are only the brightest, but by no means the only examples of how young players have developed under Razin. This includes Nabokov and Smolin as well—of course, the goalies’ development is overseen by their specific coach rather than the head coach, but the head coach’s complete trust in two 20-year-old netminders is also a significant factor (and Jelal-Ad-Din Amirbekov is coming up as well).

So it’s logical to expect, in Razin’s third season, not only further growth from young players but also that one of them will improve as dramatically as Yurov and Kantserov did. Perhaps that will be Andrei Kozlov—the only Metallurg player who didn’t miss a single game last season. In preseason, Igor Nechayev, Nikita Poltavchuk, and Mikhail Fyodorov have already shown themselves quite well; Mikhail Grass, still in the “promising prospect” category, has lingered there a bit too long.

What to expect

First and foremost, one should expect bright, attacking hockey from Magnitogorsk. As for results, let us stress once again that last year’s outcome was not truly reflective of the team’s level, and over the summer Meta   llurg only became stronger. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume they will advance at least two playoff rounds.