Deadline week

The KHL trade deadline passed at midnight Sunday – with plenty of action in the final week. Here’s your rundown of the biggest deals.

Cajkovsky returns

Slovak international defenseman Michal Cajkovsky is coming back to the KHL. The 33-year-old has signed with Traktor until the end of the season. Previously, the Bratislava native played 444 games for Avtomobilist, Dynamo Moscow, Sibir and Spartak, compiling 194 (64+130) points. He left Spartak in the summer to join Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland, but played just six games there.

Ebert heads to CSKA

Another KHL old hand is heading back to Russia. American defenseman Nick Ebert has joined CSKA. The 31-year-old played the previous three seasons with Avtomobilist, with 101 points in 200 games for the Motormen. After leaving the club in the summer he was without a contract until he signed in Moscow until the end of the season.

Spooner back in Minsk

Canadian forward Ryan Spooner is going back to where it all began for him in the KHL. The 33-year-old came to the league in 2019, joining Dinamo Minsk. Since then, he’s contributed 291 (86+205) points in 367 games which included spells at Avtomobilist and Avangard. This season he began at Shanghai Dragons, where he had 20 (5+15) in 31 games but did not play after Dec. 19. His latest move to Belarus brings his third spell with the Bison.

Loktionov and Wilson swap places

Forwards Andrei Loktionov and Scott Wilson are changing places. Loktionov, 35, is leaving SKA to play for Sibir. The highly experienced forward (323 points in 657 games) had 7 (1+6) in 34 during his time in St. Petersburg. Moving the other way, Scott Wilson has 18 (10+8) points from his 43 games with the Siberians. Both teams are looking to secure their playoff places and lie eighth in their respective conferences.

Avangard refreshes offense

Kirill Pilipenko, third in all-time scoring for Severstal, has left the club and joined Avangard. The forward had 193 (98+95) points in 253 games for the Lynx after joining during the 2021/2022 season. However, he struggled to hold down a place on Andrei Kozyrev’s team this season, playing just 21 games (six goals, two assists) and will look to refresh his career in Omsk.

In addition, the Hawks traded Klim Kostin (21 games, two assists) to CSKA and received Kirill Dolzhenkov (38 games, 10 (6+4) points) in return.

Admiral changes fleet

It’s been a tough season in Vladivostok and with the playoffs seemingly out of reach, the Sailors have decided to reduce the size of the fleet. The most notable departure was Daniil Gutik, who led the team in scoring with 28 points before moving to Spartak. Further departures include goalie Dmitry Shugayev and forward Igor Geraskin (both to Torpedo), Semyon Ibragimov and Yegor Pastukhov (both to Sochi), and defenseman Pavel Koledov (to SKA). In return, the club has acquired experienced forward Vladislav Kara from Sibir, ex-Torpedo goalie Ivan Kulbakov and three Spartak prospects Nikita Yefremov, Yegor Chezganov and Daniel Usmanov.

Lokomotiv extends champions

Three key players from Lokomotiv’s Gagarin Cup-winning team have signed extended contracts with the Railwaymen. Forward Maxim Shalunov, who scored last season’s golden goal, agreed a new deal until the end of the 2027/2028 season. This term, he has 27 (18+9) points in 43 games. Additionally, the Yaroslavl club secured defenseman Andrei Sergeyev and forward Georgy Ivanov until 2028. Sergeyev missed three months of this season through injury, while Ivanov is heading to the All-Star Game in Avtomobilist next month.

Tough for Love

Mitch Love took charge of Shanghai Dragons for the first time – and the incoming head coach faced a rough ride at Dinamo Minsk. His team was down 0-2 inside 80 seconds and fell to a 1-6 loss. Love had previously worked as an assistant at Washington Capitals, but faces an uphill task to lift the Dragons into the playoffs. Although the team is ninth in the Western Conference, it is 10 points behind eighth-placed SKA.

All-Star Captains confirmed

The four captains at the 2026 Fonbet KHL All-Star Game were announced last week. American forward Sam Anas (Dinamo Minsk) leads the KHL World Stars, veteran forward Alexander Radulov (Lokomotiv) wears the ‘C’ for KHL Russia Stars. KHL Urals Stars selected Metallurg defenseman Yegor Yakovlev, while CSKA’s young hot shot Prokhor Poltapov got the nod for KHL U23 Stars.

Club record for Anas …

After his All-Star honor, Sam Anas also wrote himself into Dinamo Minsk’s history books. During that win over Shanghai he had a goal and an assist, moving to 60 points for the season. That’s the best ever return for a Minsk player in a regular season, beating Charles Linglet’s 58 points in 2014/2015.

… and for Trushkov

Goaltender Alexander Trushkov set a new shut-out record for Lada, going 160:22 without allowing a goal. That took him past KHL legend Vasily Koshechkin, who blanked opposing forwards for 148:02 when he played in Togliatti in the 2008/2009 campaign.

Freakish Sulak own goal

Admiral’s recent problems were not helped by a bizarre error from captain Libor Sulak during his team’s loss at home to Ak Bars. The Czech defenseman was seeking to set up a power play, taking the puck behind his net while both teams changed lines. However, on emerging into the Admiral zone he inexplicably miscued a pass that beat unsuspecting goalie  Arseny Tsyba.