Big signing for Sibir, first tournament set to start

Last week’s news was dominated by the conclusion of one of the summer’s longer transfer sagas, amid several interesting moves. Meanwhile, this week is all about the first pre-season tournament of the summer, scheduled to take place in Minsk from Thursday.

Big Bird lands in Novosibirsk

Evgeny Kuznetsov’s move to Sibir was confirmed last week, with the 34-year-old inking a one-year deal. Kuznetsov was also courted by his hometown club, Traktor, where he began his career, but ultimately opted to go to Novosibirsk. The Siberians will be the fourth KHL club in three seasons for Kuznetsov after he returned to Russia in 2024. Last season he endured an inconsistent spell with Metallurg, producing 9 (1+8) points in 15 games for Andrei Razin’s team. At Salavat Yulaev he was more productive, with 18 points in 19 regular season games. However, in the playoffs he again struggled, with just a goal and an assist in seven outings. His arrival at Sibir fulfils head coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov’s wish to add a queen to his tactical chessboard and not just an ordinary player.

Camara heads to Admiral

Anthony Camara is back in the KHL after agreeing a one-year deal with Admiral. The Canadian forward, 32, spent last season in Germany with Iserlohn Roosters where he had 25 points in 32 games. Previously he played in the KHL for Neftekhimik, Barys and Lada, scoring 67 (31+36) points in 147 games.

Rybar out, Miftakhov in

Shanghai Dragons refreshed their goaltending options, releasing Slovak international Patrik Rybar and signing Amir Miftakhov to a two-year contract. Miftakhov, 26, began his career with Ak Bars and played 87 KHL games from 2019-2025. He had 38 wins, stopping 92.2% of shots for a GAA of 2.18. Last season he crossed the Atlantic but struggled to match those numbers while playing for Chicago Wolves in the AHL. He replaces Rybar, who had 10 wins in 28 games for the Dragons last season. Since joining Dinamo Minsk in 2021, Rybar has played 159 games in the KHL with a 91.4% save ratio and a 2.74 GAA.

Miromanov heads home

Defenseman Daniil Miromanov is back in St. Petersburg after agreeing a return to SKA. Previously the 29-year-old worked his way through the ranks at his first club but made his KHL debut for Sochi. He went on to play 73 times for the Leopards. However, a complicated career path also saw Miromanov play juniors in Canada as well as a season in Czechia in 2018/2019. He made his NHL debut for Vegas in 2021/2022 and went on to play 94 games in five seasons, most of them for Calgary. But last season he played almost entirely in the AHL and opted to return home.

Blandisi goes to Ufa

SKA traded forward Joseph Blandisi to Salavat Yulaev, taking the rights to Detroit’s new goalie Daniil Tarasov in return. Blandisi came to the KHL last season, leaving North America for the first time in his career. He scored 29 (12+17) points in 62 regular season games and added two more goals in the playoffs. The 32-year-old Canadian joins another summer signing, Vadim Shipachyov, in Ufa.

Meanwhile, Vasily Glotov returns to Petersburg to reinforce Igor Larionov’s offense. The 28-year-old signed a five-year contract at the club where he began his KHL career, having spent last season with Traktor.

Warm-up win for depleted Ak Bars

Ak Bars was the first team to play a warm-up game with a full-strength roster after the KHL’s players returned from their summer break last week. However, with the Kazan club looking to replace eight men who left during the summer, Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team had an experimental look in Thursday’s game at Neftyanik Almetyevsk. It proved a good test of the roster’s depth, ending in a shoot-out win after a 3-3 tie against VHL opposition.

Coming up …

Next week sees the first summer tournament get underway in Belarus. The Minsk Cup sees Dinamo welcome Sibir, Admiral, Shanghai Dragons, Metallurg and Sochi for a six-team competition. The teams will play in two groups of three from Thursday through Saturday, with the final standings determined by Sunday’s medal games. The coming week also brings warm-up games for Torpedo and Dynamo Moscow, Ak Bars and Neftekhimik, and Spartak and Severstal. SKA and Avtomobilist meet twice over the weekend.