Productive Anas, versatile Sharipzyanov, and playmaker Tkachyov: who will win the Golden Stick?

KHL.ru takes a closer look at the nominees for the Golden Stick award — the shortlist following the 2025-2026 regular season includes Sam Anas (Dinamo Minsk), Damir Sharipzyanov (Avangard), and Vladimir Tkachyov (Metallurg).

Sam Anas (Dinamo Minsk)

89 (32+57) points in 67 games

In his third season in Belarus, Anas delivered a phenomenal offensive performance, tying Nikita Gusev’s record for most points in a single KHL regular season. The forward finished as the league’s top scorer, while also ranking second in both goals and assists. Remarkably, he did not even crack the league’s top 50 in average ice time, skating less than 17 minutes per game during the regular season (16:48). In terms of pure productivity, Anas was one of the standout players of the year.

Dinamo Minsk’s head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov assembled an outstanding line featuring Anas, Pinchuk, and Alex Limoges, with Sam serving as the unit’s primary finisher. Alongside his excellent shot, he is distinguished by his scoring instincts and his ability to find open space in dangerous areas.

In addition to tying Gusev’s record, Anas also set one of his own — the most points ever recorded by a foreign player in a single KHL regular season. He could now become just the third international player to win the Golden Stick award after Dmitrij Jaskin (2020, 2023) and Joshua Leivo (2025).

Damir Sharipzyanov (Avangard)

67 (23+44) points in 66 games

This season marked Sharipzyanov’s sixth with the Omsk club. In recent years, he has made tremendous progress offensively and developed into one of the league’s top two-way defensemen. In the past, Damir was primarily viewed as a penalty-killing specialist willing to sacrifice his body to block shots — just remember the Gagarin Cup Final against CSKA, when he made three consecutive blocks during a five-on-three penalty kill. Now, however, he is Avangard’s cornerstone player, the team captain who takes the ice on the power play and in the decisive moments of games.

For the third straight regular season, Sharipzyanov surpassed the 40-point mark, but this time he also broke Chris Lee’s seemingly untouchable KHL record for most points by a defenseman in a single regular season. Moreover, he finished fifth in the league scoring race, ahead of players such as Joshua Leivo, Alexander Radulov, and Vitaly Pinchuk. Sharipzyanov also achieved another unique milestone — two hat tricks in a single regular season, something no defenseman had accomplished before in the KHL.

It is difficult to overstate Damir’s impact on his team’s play. The clearest indication of his importance to Avangard is his ice time — he averaged 22 minutes and 44 seconds per game in the regular season, the third-highest mark among KHL defensemen. He also ranked third on the team in differential (plus-28) and led the Hawks in blocked shots (95) and takeaways (38).

Vladimir Tkachyov (Metallurg)

71 (13+58) points in 66 games

Tkachyov’s move from Avangard to Metallurg was arguably the biggest transfer of last offseason. Media outlets constantly speculated about whether he would be able to fit into his new team and adapt quickly. As the season showed, Tkachyov proved to be a perfect match for the fast, skill-based hockey implemented by Metallurg’s head coach Andrei Razin. By the end of the regular season, he ranked among the league’s top five scorers, finished as the KHL’s leading playmaker, and also led Metallurg in both points and assists.

Thanks to his elite hockey IQ and outstanding playmaking ability, Tkachyov not only maintains his own high level but also elevates the players around him. Fans even compared his line with Roman Kantserov and Dmitry Silantyev to the legendary Zaripov – Kovar – Mozyakin trio. With Tkachyov playing a key role, Kantserov became the regular season’s top goal scorer, netting 36 goals in 63 games at just 21 years old.

Tkachyov already has several individual awards on his resume. In 2017, while playing for Admiral, he captured the Alexei Cherepanov Award as the league’s top rookie. He later captured the Best Line award in back-to-back seasons alongside his Avangard teammates and eventually earned a Golden Helmet selection. Now the question is whether he can add the Golden Stick award to that collection as well.