Season preview: Traktor. Reconstruction within a year of a final

KHL.ru continues its club-by-club preview of the 2026/2027 season. A year after reaching the Gagarin Cup final, Traktor fell in the first round in 2026. That has sparked a major reboot in Chelyabinsk.

Last season

For the last few years, Traktor has unfailingly frustrated pre-season expectations – for better or worse. In spring 2022 Chelyabinsk got to the conference final; a year later it missed the playoffs altogether. In 2024 there was another conference final, then 2025 saw Traktor in the Gagarin Cup final. But last season ended in a round one exit.

Each time, expectations were very different. In particular, a year ago Traktor was expected to be one of the leaders in the East. After a heroic run to the final the roster suffered losses, but a solid recruitment campaign seemed to have plugged those gaps. The question marks were on the defense, where Artyom Blazhiyevsky left and Steven Kampfer retired. Impressive though replacement Jordan Gross is, he could hardly be expected to fill two positions at once.

But the problems came from elsewhere. Goalie Chris Driedger did not live up to expectation and after his contract was terminated Sergei Mylnikov became first choice. He did OK, but suffered a season-ending injury in early March, after the trade deadline. Fortunately, Traktor had previously acquired Dmitry Nikolayev from Spartak and he became the third “first choice” of the season. He performed even better than Mylnikov, but by then a Traktor team tipped for a top-four finish was battling with Neftekhimik for sixth place. The coaching staff also changed: neither Benoit Groulx nor his interim replacement Pierre Richer were dismissed; both fled.

Traktor eventually secured sixth place, and fairly comfortably, but it was way below expectations. And so was a first-round exit to Ak Bars. It’s fair to say Traktor gave the future Gagarin Cup finalist a serious test: two losses in OT, two more hard-fought reverses as well as a solitary win. It’s also fair to point out that Ak Bars lost just two games on its way to the final, seeing off Dinamo Minsk and Metallurg in impressive fashion. But that was little comfort for a team that had hopes of at least matching the previous year’s run to the final.

Recruitment

Last season wasn’t an outright failure, but it was clearly a backward step. That normally inspires wholesale change, and Traktor was no exception. Every import, and several notable Russians, left the club. Meanwhile, the newcomers appear rather modest – and do not include Evgeny Kuznetsov. The main transfer saga of the summer seemed set to bring Kuznetsov back to his hometown team, but, just as two years earlier, the deal did not materialize.

Departures:

Defensemen: Jordan Gross (Avtomobilist), Sergei Drugalya (Norilsk, VHL), Logan Day (Barys), Arseny Koromyslov (St. Louis, NHL), Michal Cajkovsky. Forwards: Vasily Glotov (SKA), Alexander Kadeikin (Avtomobilist), Yegor Korshkov (Sibir), Josh Leivo (Avangard), Andrei Nikonov (Dynamo Moscow).

Arrivals:

Goalie: Henrik Haukeland (Straubing, Germany). Defensemen: Vladislav Valentsov (Shanghai Dragons), Ivan Vydrenkov (SKA), Alexei Savelyev (Ugra, VHL). Forwards: Yegor Golovnyov (Sibir), Boris Kachuk (Lehigh Valley, AHL), Nathan Legare (Utica, AHL), Nikita Soshnikov (Admiral, try-out), Artyom Udot (Ugra, VHL).

Top 3 signings

Boris Kachuk is a versatile, athletic forward , capable of playmaking and defense, and has some NHL experience. He may not have exceptional speed or skill, but he could be a king of the slot in the style of Cedric Paquette or Dmitrij Jaskin.

In other circumstances, Henrik Haukeland – bronze medallist and best goalie at the latest World Championship – might have been the first name on this list. But, given the scale of Traktor’s losses on offense (and, indeed, on defense), the team’s goaltending issues are currently less than life-threatening. It’s worth noting that Henrik has sacrificed his place on Norway’s national team to play in the KHL.

Again, in another summer, Nathan Legare might not have made the top three. But Traktor’s passivity in the summer trade market does not leave us with a wealth of candidates. As for Legare, he’s a solid stay-at-home option with limited offensive upside. In a new environment he could reveal hitherto unseen talents, but could equally fail to adapt to the KHL. 

Coaching

Scott Gordon brings plenty of experience – more than 30 years as a coach, including time in the AHL, NHL and with Team USA at World Championships and Olympics. He hasn’t recorded any big wins as a head coach, but enjoys a reputation for nurturing young talent. In the AHL, he worked with many players who went on to become stars of varying caliber, including one superstar, Patrice Bergeron.

Given Traktor’s shift to a youth-focused rebuild, Gordon’s appointment looks like a smart move.

Goalies

Given the opportunity to sign a goalie who starred at a World Championship, it would be foolish to say no. And, in theory, a goaltending stable of Haukeland, Mylnikov and Nikolayev looks very strong, promising super-intense competition. In practice, though, there’s little profit in using an import as back-up, so the competition is likely to be between Sergei and Dmitry for second place.

Logically, one of those, stuck in third and almost without game time, would be traded. But what happens if Haukeland – like many other imports before him in the KHL, and specifically at Traktor – fails to live up to expectations? What if Nikolayev is traded and Mylnikov picks up another injury in a career with frequent absences for treatment? What if it all happens at the same time?

Or what if none of those problems arise, and Traktor enjoys one of the strongest goaltending brigades in the East, if not the entire KHL?

Defense

Compared with last season, Traktor is down four men – three of whom played all year and two of whom averaged around 20 minutes a game. Another, Michal Cajkovsky, only returned to the KHL after the New Year and then spent six weeks injured but still played around 20 minutes in each playoff game. Their replacements are the promisingIvan Vydrenkov, the experienced but hardly stellar Vladislav Valentsov, and homegrown prospect Alexei Savelyev, who has yet to play KHL. Traktor will surely still be seeking reinforcements but right now, two weeks before opening night, the team looks light on numbers. Leading defenseman Grigory Dronov can expect an increased workload, certainly at the start of the season.

Offense

The arrival of two North Americans has somewhat eased a worrying situation that left Traktor with just four men capable of playing on the top two lines: Mikhail Grigorenko, Maxim Dzhioshvili, Vitaly Kravtsov and Andrei Svetlakov. To make matters worse, Kravtsov has a long-term injury.

With the new signings, we can at least see how a top six might line up (and Nikita Soshnikov is on a try-out, and could also fit in there). But this is still a catastrophic situation, especially with Kravtsov’s likely contribution so uncertain. As things stand, the team will not be left short of players. But there is a gigantic gulf in class and experience between the forwards who left and those who are available this season.

Youngsters

Last season, Traktor was the 10th youngest team in the league. This time it seems likely to be younger. On defense, there are high hopes for 22-year-old Vydrenkov who comes from SKA (where his progress had somewhat stalled), 21-year-old Vladislav Yusupov and especially Yaroslav Fedoseyev, 18. However, it’s hard to imagine any of them can step up from seventh defenseman to a regular spot in the second pair. Progress can be expected, but only steadily.

It’s a similar story on offense: Alexander Rykov, 21, Artyom Nizameyev, 20, Alexei Rykmanov, 22. There might be a role for 20-year-old Stepan Gorbunov, while Roman Kozhevnikov, 17, looks like one for the future. On the bright side, forwards tend to flourish earlier than defensemen or goalies, so a sudden surge from one of these – especially Rykov or Nizameyev – is much more plausible.

Expectations

Objectively, Traktor is weaker this season and expectations should be adjusted accordingly. Making the playoffs would be satisfactory, progressing beyond round one would be an achievement.

But it’s important that Chelyabinsk isn’t indulging in reconstruction for reconstruction’s sake, as we often see at other clubs. There’s a clear concept and strategy here: if the team sticks to its plans without flinching, this could bring concrete results – and not in the distant future, but within the next couple of years.