Happy returns

Whether rejoining previous clubs or coming back from suspension, a handful of forwards quickly found something to celebrate in familiar surroundings. Elsewhere, the search is on for another head coach at Sibir, a long-serving defenseman joins an elite group and the All-Star Game gets a new format.

Kravtsov’s flying start

After returning to Traktor following a brief spell with the Vancouver Canucks, Vitaly Kravtsov wasted no time in getting his KHL season underway. After just 2:40 of his first game on Tuesday, he scored on Amur. Later, he assisted on Grigory Dronov’s OT winner, before adding another goal in a 2-3 loss at Avangard two days later.

Rempal returns to Ufa

Sheldon Rempal was one of the most successful imports in the KHL last season and his return to Salavat Yulaev offers a big boost to a team battling for a spot in the playoffs. He made his first appearance of the campaign on Monday, picking up an assist in a 3-5 loss at home to Lada, then featured in a 2-1 victory over SKA two days later.

Leipsic back at SKA

Another forward returned to a former club last week, but unlike Kravtsov, Brendan Leipsic did not jump straight into action. The Canadian, who acquired Russian citizenship during his previous spell in St. Petersburg, has not played competitively since early April and needs time to get to full fitness. He’ll be hoping for a more successful time with SKA in 2025/2026: his previous campaign, in 2022/2023 was wrecked by injuries that limited him to just 19 appearances for Roman Rotenberg’s team.

Sulak sets Admiral record

Czech defenseman Libor Sulak is Admiral’s all-time record scorer. After drawing level with Alexander Gorshkov on 125 points last week, he moved out in front during Tuesday’s game against Avtomobilist. Sulak had three assists in that 4-2 win, moving to 128 points for the Vladivostok club. The same game saw Nikita Soshnikov join in with the week’s theme and score on his first game since returning to the Sailors.

Morozov returns from suspension

After two months out of action, Spartak center Ivan Morozov was back in action on Friday. The 25-year-old made an immediate impact, scoring his team’s first goal at home to Severstal. That maintained an unlikely three-game hot streak, but wasn’t enough to prevent the visitor from taking a 4-3 win.

Miller pots first hat-trick

Ak Bars’ defenseman Mitch Miller scored his first KHL hat-trick to inspire his team to a 5-4 comeback win over Dynamo Moscow. All three of Miller’s goals were important: he opened the scoring, tied the game at 2-2 then, after two goals from Dmitrij Jaskin on his former club, Miller broke a 4-4 tie to win it for the Tatars.

Ozhiganov joins elite group

Igor Ozhiganov got his 300th KHL point with an assist for Dynamo in that 4-5 loss in Kazan. That makes him only the fifth defenseman to reach that milestone. Kevin Dallman leads the way with 431 points, Ilya Nikulin is second on 367 and Kirill Koltsov third with 322. Andrei Sergeyev currently has exactly 300.

Butsayev leaves Sibir

Eastern Conference struggler Sibir is on the search for its third head coach of the season after firing Vyacheslav Butsayev last week. The decision was made after a 0-7 loss to Dinamo Minsk which extended the team’s losing streak to 11 games. Yaroslav Lyuzenkov took temporary charge for Saturday’s game against Dynamo Moscow, but could not prevent a club record-equalling 12th successive loss. Butsayev was Sibir’s second head coach of the season after Vadim Yepanchintsev’s departure in early October.

Import goalies move on

CSKA parted company with Spencer Martin last week following an unconvincing start to the season. The netminder, who arrived from the AHL in the summer, returned to that league with Hartford Wolf Pack. The 30-year-old Canadian played 14 games, winning five, and stopped 90.5% of shots for a GAA of 2.69. Meanwhile, at Sibir, Louis Domingue suffered a similar fate. He returned to North America and joined the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers after nine losses in 11 games, with 89.2% saves and a GAA of 3.83.

New All-Star set-up

February’s Fonbet KHL All-Star Game in Yekaterinburg will have a new format. The four-team mini-contest will continue, but instead of representing the four divisions of the KHL, the teams will be drawn up differently. Team Ural will take players from four Ural clubs: Avtomobilist, Metallurg, Traktor and Salavat Yulaev. The other three teams will be Imports, Russians and Rising Stars.