Season review: Dinamo Minsk. Millennia for Kvartalnov, Shipachyov and Stas, strong first round and struggles in the second
KHL.ru continues its club-by-club review of the 2025/2026 season. Dinamo Minsk matched its best ever result, reaching the second round of the playoffs. But the Belarusians had higher ambitions during the season and failed to realize them.
In spring 2025 Dinamo reached the second round of the Gagarin Cup for the first time ever and followed it up with a decent offseason – transfers suggested a club ready to improve on that result. Key acquisitions included goalie Zach Fucale, defenseman Ty Smith and forward Alex Limoges, adding a top player in each position. Darren Dietz also strengthened the defense and Stanislav Galiyev, who enjoyed the best stage of his career under Dmitry Kvartalnov, signed an extension.
Dinamo made an uneven start to the season: a 3-0 win over Spartak was followed by a 3-4 loss in Nizhnekamsk after leading Neftekhimik 3-0. For much of September, the Bison had to settle into their game, with newcomers adapting to life on a different team. But as October rolled into November, a six-game winning streak lifted Minsk up the standings. And losing streaks were rare. In the remainder of the regular season, Dinamo went head-to-head with Lokomotiv for top spot in the West, but ultimately finished second.
Dynamo Moscow was the opposition in the first round. After two comfortable home wins, the Belarusians wrapped up the series in Moscow with back-to-back 2-1 wins. That put Minsk into the quarterfinals for the second year running. Up against Ak Bars, one of Kvartalnov’s former clubs, things were very different. Ak Bars was able to neutralize Dinamo’s strengths and there was no Plan B for the Bison. The key episode came late in game two when the teams traded late goals before Ak Bars won it in overtime. Afterwards, Kvartalnov was unhappy with the pre-game ceremony to mark Andrei Stas’s 1,000th KHL game.
Dinamo lost game three 0-4 in Kazan and Kvartalnov berated his players’ lack of character. In response, his players produced a more physical game, including a fight at once stage, but fell to a 2-3 loss and were swept out of the playoffs.
The second round matches Dinamo’s best ever KHL finish. However, before the start of the season many marked out Minsk as potential finalists. And, given the quality of Dinamo’s hockey in the regular season and the first round of the playoffs, this team really could have gone further.
Best players
Sam Anas
75 games, 94 (35+59) points
This was the American forward’s third season with Dinamo, and by some margin his best. In the regular season he had 89 points, leading the league and tying Nikita Gusev’s scoring record while setting a new mark for imports. His +24 also ranked him fourth on the team, and he led the way for goals. In the playoffs he wasn’t quite so effective, but that’s hardly surprising given the opposition would single him out for close attention.
Alex Limoges
76 games, 79 (25+54) points
Dinamo hit the jackpot with Limoges’s arrival. He was the missing link that enabled Kvartalnov to assemble a super-line – the Limoges-Pinchuk-Anas trio was the most productive in regular season and each man cleared 70 points for the season. Limoges is technically skilled, with a powerful shot and a happy knack of finding and creating scoring opportunities. And despite his relatively small size, Alex never shied away from the physical game, finishing third in hits among Dinamo’s forwards.
Vitaly Pinchuk
73 games, 73 (33+40) points
As this line hit new heights, Pinchuk also elevated his hockey, going at a point a game for the first time in his career. Alongside Limoges, Vitaly led the way in game time with more than 18 minutes per game. Aged 24, he was one of the leaders on his team, playing a full part in a line that consistently won games for Dinamo.
Vadim Shipachyov
72 games, 47 (16+31) points
This was a historic season for one of the grandmasters of Russian hockey – Shipachyov became the first player to reach 1,000 points in the KHL. It was appropriate that the big moment was an assist – always a huge part of Vadim’s game. Witnessing Shipachyov’s skills and experience first hand was an evident help for Dinamo’s youngsters – primarily Pinchuk but also Vadim Moroz and Yegor Borikov.
Coaching
There’s a popular theory that it takes three years to build a team. This was Dmitry Kvartalnov’s third season behind the Dinamo bench and it seemed that the team was ready for great things. Although it didn’t quite work out, but that does not erase the progress Dinamo has made from midtable plodder to genuine contender. In 2025/2026, Kvartalnov became the first head coach to reach 1,000 games in the KHL. He also consistently developed young players: in the first time, apart from the previously-mentioned Pinchuk, Moroz and Borikov, there was regular game time for Daniil Lipsky, Daniil Sotishvili, Nikita Pyshkailo among others. Now Kvartalnov is preparing for a new challenge at defending champion Lokomotiv, while Minsk will continue under new coaching.
Best game
During the regular season, Dinamo often enjoyed big victories but the most memorable was surely the 7-3 over Ak Bars. This wasn’t just a high-profile opponent, it was also a road game. In effect, the game was done in the first period: goals from Lipsky, Sotishvili and Pinchuk (2) opened a 4-1 lead at the first intermission. Midway through the second period Sergei Kuznetsov and Ilya Usov extended the lead to an embarrassing 6-1. Kazan managed a couple of consolation efforts, but Anas had the final say with an empty-netter.
Young players
Kvartalnov is known for his work with youngsters and he used 11 U23 players this season. Some of them – Lipsky, Borikov, Moroz and Sotishvili – are already established on the team. Five players made their KHL debuts this season. Bogdan Belkin stood out a gifted, physically imposing forward who saw plenty of playoff action.
Offseason work
Right now, Dinamo has to rebuild its roster. Pinchuk, Moroz and Borikov are heading to North America, Shipachyov is going to Ufa, while defensemen Dietz, Rob Hamilton and Kristian Khenkel are bound for Sibir, CSKA and Dynamo Moscow respectively.
There’s only one arrival so far – Chris Tierney is heading back to Minsk for a second spell with Dinamo. It’s also worth noting extensions for Anas and Limoges, which can be regarded as wins for the management amid inevitable interest from other clubs.
But the big question right now is who will coach the team next season? An appointment is needed as soon as possible, with barely a month to go before the start of pre-season.
