And that’s a wrap …
The 2025/2026 KHL is officially over, with the tradition closing ceremony taking place last week. Here’s your recap of all the prizes handed out there, plus news of a long-serving import leaving his club and the transfer window opening today.
Lokomotiv collects awards
Gagarin Cup winner Lokomotiv Yaroslavl picked up more hardware at the Closing Ceremony. The Railwaymen also claimed the Western Conference title and goalie Daniil Isayev was named playoff MVP after backstopping a second successive championship. He and forward Alexander Radulov made the league’s representative team of the year, alongside playoff leading scorer Mitch Miller (Ak Bars) and Sharipzyanov, plus Sam Anas (Dinamo Minsk) and Konstantin Okulov (Avangard). Off the ice, Loko’s president Yury Yakovlev won director of the year after the club won both the Gagarin and Kharlamov Cups.
Scoring feats
The closing festivities hailed the achievements of the league’s top scorers. Dinamo Minsk’s American forward Sam Anas was the top scorer in regular season, matching Nikita Gusev’s record of 89 points. He formed an effective partnership with Alex Limoges and Vitaly Pinchuk, the league’s most productive line with 68 goals between them. Metallurg’s Roman Kantserov led the regular season in goals, scoring 36 in 63 games while another forward, Salavat Yulaev’s Alexander Zharovsky, was named rookie of the year. He had 44 (16+28) points in 69 games in his first full season in the KHL. Metallurg took the award for highest scoring team with 294 goals.
Sharipzyanov claims MVP
Avangard defenseman Damir Sharipzyanov had a productive time at the 2025/2026 Closing Ceremony last Thursday. The Hawks’ captain was named MVP for the regular season after finishing as the leading scorer among defensemen with 67 points in 66 regular season games. Avangard goalie Nikita Serebryakov was chosen as goalie of the year.
Coach of the year
Unusually, the coach of the year award did not go to the Gagarin Cup winner. Instead, Ak Bars head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin, this year’s runner-up, took the prize for the first time in his career. As well as reaching his first cup final, he was also involved in the All-Star Game for the first time.
Retiring on a high
The Closing Ceremony saw Sibir’s captain, Sergei Shirokov, announced his retirement from the Barvikha stage. The 40-year-old forward won the Sergei Gimayev devotion to hockey award at the end of a season that saw him complete 900 games in the league. He told the audience at the ceremony that he could think of no better way to go out on a high note.
Long-serving ref rewarded
The Golden Whistle awards for the top officials went to referee Viktor Birin and linesman Nikita Novikov. Birin officiated in the 2009 Gagarin Cup final between Ak Bars and Lokomotiv, and was back this year as the teams contested the top prize once again. He has worked 898 games in the KHL to date. Novikov started in the KHL in 2011/2012 and has officiated 745 games in total, 77 of them this season.
Record-breaking season
At the Closing Ceremony for the 2025/2026 KHL season, league president Alexei Morozov hailed the milestones and records achieved during the campaign. “We’ve all been talking about Vadim Shipachyov’s 1,000th point and Dmitry Kvartalnov’s 1,000th game as head coach,” he said. “Another 16 records fell during the season, individual and team milestones alike. We’ve gathered here to celebrate everybody who made this an unforgettable season and wrote their names into the KHL’s history.”
Best attendances ever
The 2025/2026 regular championship was the most watched in history – 5,874,018 spectators attended 748 games, for an average of 7,853 per game. Both figures represent KHL records. Including the playoffs, a total of 6,569,164 fans generated an average attendance of 7,972, also record figures.
Da Costa leaves Avtomobilist
One of the KHL’s longest-serving imports, Stephane da Costa, is looking for a new club after his contract with Avtomobilist was terminated. The French center played 627 games for Lokomotiv, CSKA, Ak Bars and Avto. In that time, he compiled 540 (218+322) points and regularly represented Team France, including at this year’s Winter Olympics.
Trade window opens today
June 1 marks the start of the player trading season. For the first time since January, KHL clubs can add new names to their rosters. And there are some big name players available, including goalies Adam Huska and Pavel Khomchenko, defensemen Robin Press, Rob Hamilton, Nikita Nesterov and Dmitry Yudin, and forwards Josh Leivo, Vadim Shipachyov, Nikita Gusev and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Liska represents Slovakia at Worlds
The IIHF World Championship concluded in Zurich on Sunday with Finland taking gold after a 1-0 OT victory over Switzerland. Slovakia’s Severstal center Adam Liska was the only current KHL player to feature in this year’s event. He had 5 (2+3) points in seven games as the Slovaks reached the quarterfinals. The winning Finnish roster included former KHLers Sakari Manninen (3 seasons with Salavat Yulaev), Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit and SKA) plus Saku Maenalanen and Hannes Bjorninen (both Jokerit). Surprise bronze medallist Norway, which beat Canada in OT in the third-place playoff, included forward Jacob Berglund, who represented Dinamo Riga, Neftekhimik, Traktor, Severstal and Barys over three seasons in the league from 2019-2022.
New season set
The 2026/2027 KHL season will start on September 5. This year, instead of a single Opening Cup curtain-raiser, several games are to be scheduled for the first day of action. The regular season will run through March 20, 2027. As previously, each team will play 68 games and there will breaks for the Channel 1 Cup, New Year and the All-Star weekend. The playoffs start March 23 and game seven of the Gagarin Cup final is pencilled in for May 23.
