Man of the Week: Andrew Poturalski

KHL.ru’s weekly column returns with Andrew Poturalski. The American forward is one of Avangard’s top scorers, and is currently on an impressive thirteen-game scoring streak, a clear sign of being one of the hottest players in the league and fully adapted to his new reality in Omsk.

In his KHL debut season with Avangard, American forward Andrew Poturalski has made an immediate impact, riding a recent thirteen‑game scoring streak that underlines how seamless his transition to the KHL has been. In just his first full campaign overseas after a decade in North American pro leagues, Poturalski’s consistent offensive presence has helped Avangard sit near the top of the Eastern Conference standings and position itself as one of the Gagarin Cup contenders under head coach Guy Boucher’s system.

Early years

Born January 14, 1994, in Williamsville, New York, he first made a name for himself as a youth player in regional hockey before moving through the junior ranks. In the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, he put up a solid 38 points (with 16 goals and 22 assists) in 33 games during the 2011‑2012 campaign, and he added some USHL action with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, where across parts of three seasons he emerged as a point producer, notably posting 64 points (27 goals, 37 assists) in 60 games in 2013‑2014.

That scoring talent carried into the collegiate ranks at the University of New Hampshire in Hockey East, where he steadily climbed the offensive charts across two seasons. As a freshman in 2014‑2015, Poturalski recorded 29 (14+15) points in 40 games, then exploded for 52 points (with 22 goals and 30 assists) in 37 games as a sophomore, proving himself one of the league’s premiere playmakers and a Hobey Baker nominee caliber talent.

Ranking up

Despite going undrafted, Poturalski turned pro in 2016 and began a long and decorated AHL career. Over ten seasons in the American Hockey League he emerged as one of the very best scorers: he is a three‑time John B. Sollenberger Trophy winner as the league’s leading scorer (including 73 points with the San Jose Barracuda in 59 games in 2024‑2025, with 30 goals and 43 assists) and two‑time Calder Cup champion with the Charlotte Checkers (2019) and Chicago Wolves (2022).

In 2024‑2025 Poturalski’s league leadership was capped with the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL MVP, his first MVP honor after years of dominating AHL stat lines. Across 527 AHL games, Poturalski logged 161 goals and 332 assists for 493 points, adding 26 goals and 47 assists for 73 points in 81 postseason contests. Moreover, the Williamsville native has also recorded three helpers in nine career NHL appearances, including one assist in three appearances with the San Jose Sharks in 2024-2025.

Earelier, in 2021‑2022 with the Chicago Wolves he exploded for a career‑best 101 points (28 goals, 73 assists) in 71 games, becoming the first player in over a decade to reach three figures in AHL scoring. In earlier seasons he consistently posted 45‑60+ point campaigns, including Calder Cup titles in 2019 and 2022 and a Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP in 2019 with the Checkers.

Move to the KHL

After an AHL career that saw him becoming just the third player in the league’s history to lead the scoring race three times, Poturalski moved overseas as he inked a one‑year deal with Avangard. With the Hawks he quickly became a central piece of a deep roster, contributing both goals and assists and helping the team in ranking high in the Eastern Conference’s standings.

The Williamsville native is currently on a thirteen-game scoring streak, and currently has 57 points in 55 regular-season games, with 22 goals and 35 assists. The forward trails only Konstantin Okulov and defenseman Damir Sharipzyanov in scoring for Avangard, and is a key player in one of the league’s best teams. After the 2021 Gagarin Cup triumph, the Omsk franchise has now another great shot to return to the league’s elite.