Trade window opens, All-Star venue set

The first week of June is the first week of player trading in the close season – and we have a big new coaching appointment plus a host of imports on the move. The KHL also announced the host city for the 2027 Fonbet KHL All-Star Game.

All-Stars back to Minsk

The 2027 Fonbet KHL All-Star Game will take place in Minsk, returning to the scene of the 2010 showcase. Back then, the league’s biggest names celebrated the opening of Minsk Arena, Dinamo’s impressive home. Now, 17 years later, hockey is hitting new heights in Belarus, with the Bison enjoying their best KHL campaign last season. And, in a city famed for its passionate support, the grand event on Feb. 6-7 will surely fill the 15,000-seater venue once again.

Kvartalnov returns to Yaroslavl

Dmitry Kvartalnov was named as Lokomotiv’s new head coach on the opening day of the trade window. The 60-year-old previously spent two seasons with the Railwaymen, from 2017-2019. On both occasions, his team fell in the second round of the playoffs. More recently, Kvartalnov was at Dinamo Minsk, leading the Belarusians to their best-ever regular season placing and completing 1,000 KHL games as head coach. He replaces Bob Hartley, who retired after leading Lokomotiv to a second Gagarin Cup last month. Loko also secured renewed contracts with nine players from last year’s champion roster.

Imports on the move

Derek Barach and Darren Dietz were the first imports to sign for new teams this summer. American forward Barach, 31, signed a two-year deal with CSKA. Previously he played for Vityaz and Metallurg, compiling 124 points in 213 KHL games. Many of those came in a productive partnership with CSKA’s Dmitry Buchelnikov when the pair were at Vityaz. Defenseman Dietz inked a two-year term with Sibir, likely as a replacement for Chase Priskie. Dietz has been in the KHL since 2017 when he joined Barys. Canadian-born, but holding Kazakh citizenship, he has 267 points from 548 games for Barys, CSKA, Avangard, Avtomobilist and Dinamo Minsk.

Another defenseman is quitting Minsk, with Rob Hamilton on his way to CSKA on a two-year contract. He’ll be joined in the D-core by Alex Cotton, who arrives from Lada. Former Traktor blue liner Logan Day agreed a one-year contract with Barys. Meanwhile, the Kazakhs said goodbye to Michael Vecchione. The forward had 46 (19+27) points for Barys last season and is heading to Torpedo for his second KHL campaign.

American international Alexander Galchenyuk agreed a move to Spartak after two seasons with Amur. Sochi moved early to land three imports: defenseman Colby Williams, previously with Admiral and CSKA signed a one-year deal, as did Chinese Olympian Spencer Foo, a long-term forward with Kunlun / Shanghai Dragons. Jesse Graham, 32, returns to the Black Sea after two seasons with the Leopards from 2023-2025. Nick Merkley agreed a one-year deal with Dynamo Moscow, having spent last season with the Dragons.

Imports signing extensions

Salavat Yulaev secured the crowd-pleasing signature of forward Sheldon Rempal on a one-year contract. The Canadian has 136 points in 135 games across two seasons in Ufa and his return partway through last term was the catalyst for Viktor Kozlov’s team to surge into a playoff spot.
Spartak defenseman Joey Keane agreed a new three-year deal that will keep him with the Red-and-Whites until 2029. SKA’s center Scott Wilson signed a new one-year extension to his contract, as did Sochi defenseman Cam Lee.

Kadeikin rejoins Kudashov

Incoming Avtomobilist head coach Alexei Kudashov was in urgent need of a new center following Stephane da Costa’s departure. The capture of experienced Alexander Kadeikin reunites two old colleagues. Kudashov’s first coaching role, at Atlant, saw him work with the forward and Kadeikin later joined him at Lokomotiv. Avtomobilist also added Jordan Gross, previously of Dinamo Minsk and Traktor, on a two-year contract.

And Larionov reunited with Atanasov

Igor Larionov’s time at Torpedo saw him unleash a wealth of young talent on the KHL. One of the brightest of those rising stars was Vasily Atanasov, now 23. Larionov gave the forward his start in the KHL and was rewarded with a player consistently picking up 30-40 points a season. Capable of playing on the wing or at center, Atanasov was a big hit in Nizhny Novgorod, especially in tandem with Nikita Artamonov. To bring him to St. Petersburg, SKA had to part with another hugely promising young forward in the form of Matvei Polyakov; will the move see Atanasov step up to another level?

Vorobyov in, Letunov out at Torpedo

Torpedo’s rebuild continues. Maxim Letunov, one of last season’s top scorers, is heading to Dynamo Moscow as the Blue-and-Whites look to improve on a disappointing finish to 2025/2026. But there’s an exciting arrival in the form of Mikhail Vorobyov, a consistently strong performer for SKA over the past four seasons.