New Year trades, New Year milestones

The start of 2026 has seen two huge trades involving top KHL talent. We’ve also welcomed a new recruit to the Snipers’ Club and seen the first player reach 1,100 games in the league. And there could be an even bigger achievement on the way next week...

Kuznetsov to Ufa

Evgeny Kuznetsov is continuing his KHL career with Salavat Yulaev. The star forward was placed on waivers by Metallurg last week and, on Monday, Salavat snapped him up. The 33-year-old quickly repaid that faith, with an assist on his debut against Avtomobilist then a game-winning goal against Barys in his second appearance on Saturday. At Metallurg, Kuznetsov made 15 appearances and had 9 (1+8) points.

Sprong joins Avtomobilist

Dutch forward Daniel Sprong has joined Avtomobilist from CSKA. The 28-year-old made a good start to his KHL career, with 31 (12+19) points in 29 games. However, he played his last game on Nov. 27, gaining an assist in a 4-2 win over Lada.

First to 50

Sam Anas was the first player to reach 50 points this season, and he’s currently tied at the head of the KHL scoring race. Dinamo Minsk’s American forward reached the landmark on Jan. 8 with an assist in a 3-4 loss at Severstal, giving him 22 goals and 28 helpers. That also put him ahead of Metallurg’s Vladimir Tkachyov in the points chart. It’s already Anas’s best regular season return (his previous two campaigns brought 46 points each) and he is closing on the 53 points he reached by the end of last year’s playoffs. Tkachyov reached his half-century (9+41) with an assist in Saturday’s 5-1 win over SKA. Fellow Metallurg man Roman Kantserov is a point behind the leading duo, with Magnitka out in front as the highest scoring team this season.

Shipachyov clears one landmark, closes on another

Vadim Shipachyov became the first man to reach 1,100 KHL appearances when he suited up for Dinamo Minsk at CSKA on Tuesday. The 37-year-old had an assist in that game, but could not avoid a 2-4 loss in Moscow. His point moves him to 999 for his career, leaving one short of becoming the first player to score 1,000 points in the KHL. Ilya Kablukov, who recently joined Shanghai Dragons, is second for appearances with 1,030. Sergei Mozyakin is second for points with 928 in the KHL.

Radulov back for more

Alexander Radulov, third on the KHL all-time scoring list, will return for another season with Lokomotiv. The 39-year-old, who leads his team in scoring this season with 38 (19+19) points, agreed a one-year extension in Yaroslavl, taking him to the end of the 2026/2027 season. In his 12 campaigns to date, Radulov has 789 (289+500) points from 756 games, plus Gagarin Cup wins with Salavat Yulaev (2011) and Lokomotiv (2025).

Shirokov joins elite band

Sibir captain Sergei Shirokov became the seventh man to join the KHL Snipers’ Club, for players with 250+ goals. He scored twice in a 5-2 victory over Admiral to reach the landmark. The six ahead of him are Sergei Mozyakin (419 goals), Vadim Shipachyov (314), Nigel Dawes (293), Danis Zaripov (292), Alexander Radulov (289) and Nikita Gusev (266). SKA’s Sergei Plotnikov could soon join the 250 club; he’s currently on 246 goals.

Two games, one city

Orthodox Christmas brought a gift for hockey lovers in St. Petersburg, which hosted two KHL games in one day. First, Shanghai Dragons defeated Amur at the SKA Arena, then SKA’s Nikolai Goldobin enjoyed a four-point game in an overtime win against Lada. Stat fans will note that St. Petersburg becomes the first city outside of Moscow to stage two league games on the same day.

Olympic call-ups

Martin Gernat (Lokomotiv), Adam Liska (Severstal) and Adam Ruzicka (Spartak) were all selected for Team Slovakia’s Olympic roster. The trio will take part in the 2026 Games in Milan, Italy, next month. They will join Stephane da Costa, who was called up for Team France earlier this year.