Finalist Gatiyatulin, crisis manager Kozlov, and regular-season winner Razin: who will be the Coach of the Year?

KHL.ru highlights the nominees for the Best Coach award—for the 2025–2026 season, the nominees are Anvar Gatiyatulin (Ak Bars), Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulaev), and Andrei Razin (Metallurg).

Gatiyatulin’s first career final

For Ak Bars’ head coach, this season marked his second year in charge of the team. The first campaign was a mixed one — in the playoffs, Kazan eliminated Avtomobilist in seven games and led Dynamo Moscow 2–0 in the series, only to lose four straight and be knocked out in the second round.
The start of the new season for both Ak Bars and Gatiyatulin himself was far from ideal: just three wins in ten September games, and rumors about a possible coaching change. However, credit must be given to the club’s management: they avoided drastic decisions, publicly backed the coach, and he managed to turn things around. Ak Bars eventually finished the regular season in third place in the Eastern Conference.

Throughout the year, Gatiyatulin aimed to build three balanced lines capable of posing an equal threat in the offensive zone. In the playoffs, this approach worked — over the first three rounds, Kazan dropped only two games in total, defeating Traktor 4–1, Dinamo Minsk 4–0, and Metallurg 4–1, the best team of the regular season.

In the final, which was the first of Gatiyatulin’s coaching career, Ak Bars faced Lokomotiv led by the highly experienced Bob Hartley. At first glance, it seemed that it was precisely the lack of experience in key games that cost both the team and the coach.
Nevertheless, given the turbulent start, the season can be considered a strong one for Ak Bars. The same applies to Gatiyatulin, who, alongside an appearance in the KHL All-Star Game, his first final, could also add a Coach of the Year title to his achievements.

A respectable result for Kozlov in difficult conditions

During the offseason, it became known that Salavat Yulaev was facing financial difficulties. Ahead of the start of the campaign, the media and experts widely questioned whether the Ufa club would even be able to fight for a playoff spot.

And in many ways, the season’s storyline was similar to Kazan’s — the start of the championship was far from ideal for Kozlov’s team. However, the coach, who stood by the club during a difficult period, and his players kept working, and this ultimately brought results. Salavat Yulaev finished the regular season in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, managing to finish ahead of, among others, Traktor, which had reached the Gagarin Cup Final the previous year.

In the first round, Ufa faced Avtomobilist, widely considered the favorite in the series. The matchup proved to be a real battle and ended as a surprise in terms of outcome as Salavat Yulaev won in six games to reach the quarterfinals.

There, Ufa came up against the reigning (and future) champions. Lokomotiv swept the series, but in fairness Salavat Yulaev had to play without several injured key players. Moreover, a 4–0 result in Lokomotiv’s favor does not fully reflect how competitive each game was — the season can clearly still be viewed as a positive one for Ufa.

It can be said that this version of Salavat Yulaev was very much a coach-driven team. Kozlov entrusted major roles to young players, and they delivered: notably Alexander Zharkovsky, who was nominated for Rookie of the Year. The coach also revitalized Evgeny Kuznetsov, who shone in Ufa and helped the team reach the second round.

The head coach also played a significant role in the return of Sheldon Rempal, whose arrival became a turning point in Salavat Yulaev’s improved form.

The Continental Cup and Razin’s attacking hockey

During the offseason, Metallurg focused on adding skilled and fast players, acquiring Vladimir Tkachyov, Sergei Tolchinsky, and Derek Barach, while also trading with CSKA for Ruslan Iskhakov. The roster proved to be a perfect fit for the style of hockey preached by Andrei Razin: combination play and rapid transitions from defense to offense.

The result was the first Continental Cup in club history and a new record for goals scored in a single regular season with 252.

Razin assembled a dominant line featuring Tkachyov, Kantserov, and Silantyev, with the center becoming the regular season’s top goal scorer with 36 goals. However, Metallurg never truly managed to replace Dmitry Silantyev after his injury. Perhaps that was precisely the missing piece in the playoffs: after defeating Sibir (4–1 in the series) and Torpedo (4–1), the Ural side lost to Ak Bars in five games.

One of Razin’s greatest strengths as a coach is his ability to develop young players. Under his guidance, Kantserov has grown into an elite goal scorer over the last three seasons, while this year Mikhail Fyodorov — nominated for Rookie of the Year — and Andrei Kozlov both broke through. Defenseman Alexander Siryatsky and forward Igor Nechayev also adapted well to life in the KHL.