Season preview. Dinamo Minsk: Becoming a ‘big team’

KHL.ru continues its club-by-club preview of the upcoming season with a look at Dinamo Minsk.

Last season

The 2024/2025 campaign was the best in Dinamo Minsk’s KHL history. Throughout the season, the Belarusians set new record. First, there were individual achievements: Vadim Shipachyov set a new mark for KHL games, then overhauled Sergei Mozyakin’s points tally in the league. Next came club records. In February and March the Bison matched their best ever winning streak (nine games), before finishing with best-ever wins (39) and goals (206) in regular season play. 

That added up to a top-four finish in the West – another club first – which proved a springboard to reach the second round for the first time. A 4-2 success over Traktor set up a meeting with Traktor, but there was no way past the eventual Gagarin Cup finalist.

Recruitment

Arrivals

Goalie: Zach Fucale (Traktor). Defense:  Darren Dietz (Avtomobilist), Ty Smith (Carolina, NHL). Forwards: Stanislav Galiyev (CSKA, try-out), Vyacheslav Gretsky (Amur), Michael Dal Colle (Iserlohn, DEL), Stepan Zvyagin (Kunlun, return from loan), Roman Kuznetsov (Traktor), Alex Limoges (Hershey, AHL), Yegor Maklozyan (Yuzhny Ural, VHL, try-out)

Retained

Goalie: Vasily Demchenko. Defense: Josh Brook, Pavel Denisov, Timofei Kovgorenya, Sergei Kuznetsov, Brady Lyle, Nicolas Meloche, Xavier Ouellet, Kristian Khenkel, Rob Hamilton. Forwards: Yegor Borikov, Dillon Dube, Daniil Lipsky, Vadim Moroz, Vitaly Pinchuk, Nikita Pyshkailo, Daniil Sotishvili, Andrei Stas, Ilya Usov, Vadim Shipachyov, Sam Anas.

Departures

Goalie: Andrei Tikhomirov (Shanghai). Defense: Jordan Gross (Traktor), Dmitry Korobov, Evgeny Lisovets, Ilya Sushko (Torpedo). Forwards: Alexander Volkov (Avangard), н. Горбунов Роман С. (Автомобилист), Arseny Kovgorenya (Metallurg), Chris Tierney (Ambri-Piotta, SUI)

Top 3 signings

Zach Fucale

After two seasons at Traktor, Zach Fucale needs no introduction. The goalie quickly found his place in Chelyabinsk, where he was a success on and off the ice and inspired the team with his passionate performances. Fucale has 72 wins in the KHL from 127 games, stopping an impressive 92.5% of shots for a GAA of 2.25 and 15 shut-outs.

Ty Smith

In the form of Ty Smith, Dinamo has acquired an excellent two-way defenseman. Last season he was in the Carolina Hurricanes system and in total he has 131 NHL appearances for 49 (9+40) points. In the AHL the 25-year-old played 140 games for 96 (21+75) points. In 2020, Smith helped Team Canada to World Junior gold.

Alex Limoges

The big addition to Dinamo’s offense is Alex Limoges. The 2024 Calder Cup winner played the past two seasons in the AHL with Hershey and was among his team’s top 3 scorers each time. In total he has played 301 AHL games and scored 233 (102+131) points. 

Coaching

The most experienced coach in the KHL, Dmitry Kvartalnov, continues in Minsk. He has 962 games as a head coach in the league, 153 of them with Dinamo. This summer, Kvartalnov took his place in the Russian Hockey Hall of Fame. 

Goaltending

Dinamo’s goalies are among the strongest in the league. Zach Fucale and Vasily Demchenko look like an incredible pairing on paper. Fucale was a star for Traktor and Demchenko was great last season after his transfer to Minsk. The coaching staff will have a welcome headache when it comes to allocating game time to these two. 

Defense

There was a big loss for Dinamo when Jordan Gross moved to Traktor as a replacement for the retired Steven Kampfer. But the Belarusians responded by signing two strong attacking defensemen. Ty Smith is capable of contributing points, while Darren Dietz is well known to KHL followers. Both these signings sum up the Dinamo D-core: there are many players here who can join the offense and score as part of Kvartalnov’s intensive hockey style.

Forwards

Once again, the Minsk offense looks impressive. Vadim Shipachyov is going after 1,000 points in the league, Vitaly Pinchuk. Vadim Moroz and other young Belarusians are developing at a rapid rate, while Sam Anas got 45+ points in the past two seasons.

Yes, the departures of Roman Gorbunov and Alexander Volkov were disappointing. They are replaced by new imports. Aside from Limoges, Dinamo signed Michael Dal Colle, with experience in the NHL and in Europe. Vyacheslav Gretsky, one of the toughest players in the league, returns from Amur to add heft to the bottom six. 

Prospects

Dinamo is a great environment for young players. The club structure plays a big part, as does Kvartalnov’s ability to bring the best out of his rising stars. As a result, several u23 players are already firmly established on the team.

Examples include Vadim Moroz (21, 29+20 points in 70 games last season), Yegor Borikov (19, 19+14 in 78 games and goal leader in the playoffs with seven), Daniil Lipsky (20, 6+9 from 63 games) and Daniil Sotishvili (22, 5+6 in 41). 

What to expect

After last season, Dmitry Kvartalnov said: “We wanted to be a big team. We’ve already done that. Now we need to consolidate that status.” And this summer’s actions reflect those words. The team has consolidated from a position of strength and should be capable of another top-four finish. The next step to joining the top clubs is to get deeper into the playoffs and, at least, reach the semi-finals.