It all starts this week

The last of the pre-season tournaments are over, and we’re almost ready for the 2025/2026 campaign. With the action getting underway on Friday, read on for some of the highlights of the opening weekend, plus a run-down of the latest stories from pre-season.

The Grand Opening

The KHL’s 2025/2026 season gets underway Friday in Yaroslavl. As is traditional, the Opening Cup is a rematch of last season’s Gagarin Cup final, with defending champion Lokomotiv taking on the Traktor team it beat to win the cup. But both teams have undergone significant changes since May: Bob Hartley replaces Igor Nikitin as Loko head coach, while Traktor saw several key players – Zach Fucale, Maxim Shabanov, Vitaly Kravtsov – move on.

And that’s just the start of a busy opening weekend. Eye-catching games include Gerard Gallant’s debut as a KHL head coach. His Shanghai Dragons face SKA on Saturday in what is – at least temporarily – a St. Petersburg derby. Igor Nikitin’s second spell as CSKA head coach begins with a home derby against Dynamo, and there’s an intriguing Eastern Conference clash between Metallurg and Ak Bars to start the season. 

CSKA repeats Moscow triumph

The Mayor of Moscow Cup, the final pre-season tournament, ended with CSKA defending its title from last year. The Muscovites took gold thanks to a 3-2 win over Dinamo Minsk in the final, with Nikolai Kovalenko scoring twice. Shanghai Dragons, playing their first games of the summer, took bronze thanks to a 6-1 thrashing of Dynamo Moscow. Spartak beat Torpedo 4-0 in the placement game, leaving Alexei Isakov still awaiting his first win as head coach. 

Avtomobilist on top in St. Petersburg

The Puchkov Trophy was the first chance for Petersburg’s fans to get a good look at Igor Larionov’s SKA – and first impressions were mixed. An opening-day win over Ak Bars was followed by a 0-1 loss to Avtomobilist in the de facto gold-medal game. The Motormen ran riot against an experimental Ak Bars roster, winning 6-1 before securing the three-team tournament with that tight verdict against the host. 

VHL team springs surprise

The Romazan Memorial in Magnitogorsk ended in a home win, but not for Metallurg. Instead, the host’s VHL team, Magnitka, won all three games to claim the prize. True, Metallurg took the opportunity to look at a bunch of players from the reserves, but that meant, in turn, that Magnitka had to explore its depth. Nonetheless, the outsider beat its parent club, as well as defeating Barys and Salavat Yulaev to take the prize. 

Traktor victorious on home ice

The Chelyabinsk Governor’s Cup went to Traktor, but last season’s Gagarin Cup finalist did not find things straightforward on home ice. Beaten by Amur in the opening game, Traktor responded with wins over Lada and Sochi to make the gold-medal game. And there, Benoit Groulx’s team avenged its loss to the Tigers, winning 5-2. 

Karpukhin reunited with Gatiyatulin

Defenseman Ilya Karpukhin developed into a star at Traktor under the coaching of Anvar Gatiyatulin. Last season he left Chelyabinsk for the first time in his pro career to join SKA. The move saw him ramp up his production, but after Roman Rotenberg lost his job as head coach, Igor Larionov made it clear that he didn’t want the 27-year-old on his team. That opened the door for a reunion with his old Traktor mentor, and a move to Ak Bars was secured last week. Previously, all but 35 of Karpukhin’s 416 KHL appearances came for his first club. 

Hollowell flipped to Lada

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl signed Canadian defenseman Mac Hollowell earlier this summer – but now he’s swapped trains for automobiles with a move to Lada. The 27-year-old’s place in Yaroslavl was undermined when Martin Gernat decided to return to the Gagarin Cup winner, prompting the Railwaymen to move him on. Lada swooped to sign him up, making him the third import this summer to change clubs without playing a competitive game alongside Jesse Blacker (Avtomobilist and Avangard) and Michael Veccione (Traktor and Barys). 

Magic Game for the Magic Man

Pavel Datsyuk staged a hockey festival in Yekaterinburg – and all to raise money for seriously ill children. The Magic Game, played on Saturday, united a galaxy of Russian stars past and present in support of the Children of Russia charity. Alexander Ovechkin, Valery Kamensky, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vyacheslav Fetisov and Sergei Fedorov were among the big games suiting up to play on Datsyuk’s team, while the opposition included Alexei Morozov, Sergei Mozyakin, Maxim Afinogenov and Sergei Shirokov. Datsyuk’s Team Red took an entertaining 13-8 win, but the score was less significant than the occasion.