Big signing for Hawks, two new Dragons

A trio of high-profile imports landed in the KHL last week as Avangard and Shanghai look to consolidate their strong starts to the season. Avtomobilist shrugged off an injury crisis to build a six-game hot streak, while Igor Nikitin and Alexander Chmelevski are looking forward to visits to their former clubs this week.

McLeod returns to Omsk

Center Mike McLeod is back at Avangard on a three-year contract. The Canadian, who also played for Barys in the KHL, left Omsk during last season’s playoffs due to a court hearing. After he was cleared of charges of sexual assault he, and several of his team-mates from Canada’s 2018 World Junior Championship team, were free to negotiate contracts with the NHL. Despite that option, though, McLeod, 27, was quick to agree a long-term return to the KHL and played his first game on Sunday. Last season he started at Barys before moving to Avangard. In total, he played 35 regular season games and nine more in the playoffs, producing 27 (7+20) points.

Two new imports for Dragons

Shanghai Dragons’ encouraging start to the season continues – and so does the club’s recruitment drive. Forwards Kevin Labanc and Greg McKegg are the latest additions to Gerard Gallant’s roster. Labanc, 27, earned the nickname Kevin Ovechkin during his time at San Jose due to his devastating shot and the best of his nine NHL seasons brought him 56 points in 2019. In total, he played 542 games in the NHL, with 89 goals and 162 assists before a shoulder operation forced him to miss most of last season.

McKegg, meanwhile, arrives from the Czech Republic, where he was with Mlada Boleslav. Earlier in his career the 33-year-old played under Gerard at the Rangers and was a team-mate of fellow Dragon Ryan Spooner at the World U18s in 2010 He has more than 250 NHL appearances to his credit, but missed all of last season after sustaining a serious injury in practice.
 

Avtomobilist shrugs off injury worries

With a six-game winning run, Avtomobilist is up to second in the overall KHL standings, three points behind leader Metallurg. The current streak includes victories over Ak Bars, Amur, Neftekhimik, Avangard (x2) and SKA. But Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team is also contending with an injury crisis. Although Curtis Valk made his first appearance of the season on Friday, the team is still missing the likes of Nikita Tryamkin, Stephane da Costa, Brooks Macek, Maxim Osipov and Sergei Zborovsky. Despite that long list of absentees, the Motormen keep winning.

Kuznetsov makes Metallurg debut

Evgeny Kuznetsov played his first game for Metallurg on Friday, helping the league leader to a 4-1 win over Torpedo. The newcomer was placed on the fourth line with Luke Johnson and Nikita Korotkov and played 13:35 of the game. The highlight was a fine assist on Mikhail Fyodorov’s tying goal in the second period.

800 games for Yakovlev

While Kuznetsov is just starting his Metallurg career, long-serving defenseman Yegor Yakovlev became the eighth defenseman to reach 800 career games in the league. Yakovlev, 34, grew up in Magnitogorsk but had to wait until 2019 to represent his hometown team in pro hockey. Prior to that, he made his KHL debut for Ak Bars in 2010/2011, then played for Lokomotiv and SKA. He won his first Gagarin Cup in 2017 in St. Petersburg, then captained Magnitka to the prize in 2024.

 
 

Jaros back in Moscow

Slovak defenseman Christian Jaros returned to Moscow – but this time he’s playing for Spartak. Last season he had 57 games for CSKA, contributing 12 (2+10) points. His full KHL career, which includes time with Avangard and Severstal, has 141 games for 43 points. Over the summer, he signed for Columbus in the NHL but was placed on waivers before the start of the season.
 

100 points for Altybarmakyan

Lada’s Andrei Altybarmakyan first hit the headlines when he was one of the first junior players to earn a call-up to the KHL All-Star game. Moreover, he went on to score in the big event, securing himself a footnote in history. Since then, he has carved out a career in the league and last week the 27-year-old brought up his 100th point. He reached the landmark with an assist against Sibir and moved onto 101 points with a goal in a 4-2 win. The Motormen are revitalized of late, taking seven points from their last four games after snapping a nine-game skid.
 

Coming up …

It promises to be a raucous reception for Igor Nikitin on Wednesday when he returns to Yaroslavl with his CSKA team. Nikitin led Lokomotiv to a long-awaited Gagarin Cup triumph last season, but almost immediately left the team to return to the Muscovites. This week’s game will be his first return to Arena 2000 since then, and he’ll be hoping for better than the 1-5 loss he suffered at the hands of his former team last month. Tuesday also brings a swift reunion: Alexander Chmelevski’s return to Ufa following his recent move to Ak Bars adds a bit more spice to Tuesday’s latest Green Derby instalment.