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Season preview: Spartak. Exciting newcomers, new ccoaches and a push to return to the top four
KHL.ru looks at the state of the League’s clubs as they prepare for the start of the new season. Spartak has retained the core of their roster, but several key players from recent years have left the club, while the coaching staff has also undergone significant changes.
Last Season
The 2025-2026 season was a mixed one for Spartak. The team went through some particularly difficult stretches, while the roster also changed during the campaign. Nathan Todd left in a trade with Ak Bars, while Adam Ruzicka departed for disciplinary reasons. At the same time, Daniil Gutik joined the club.
There were changes to the coaching staff as well. Alexei Kovalyov and Igor Kravchuk were dismissed and replaced by Oleg Kvasha and Alexander Barkov. Head coach Alexei Zhamnov also missed part of the season for medical reasons.
As a result of their poor run of form, the team dropped too many points and finished the regular season in eighth place. In the first round of the playoffs, the Red-and-Whites faced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and lost the series in five games. Compared with the previous years, it was difficult to call the season a successful one.
Recruitement
Arrivals:
Goalies: Maxim Pavlenko (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL), Ivan Fedotov (Columbus, NHL). Defensemen: Alexander Bryntsev (Shanghai Dragons), Will Reilly (Shanghai Dragons). Forwards: Fyodor Avramov (HC Sochi, trade), Alexander Galchenyuk (Amur), Maxime Comtois (Dynamo Moscow, trade), Matvei Petrov (Bakersfield, AHL), Evgeny Svechnikov (Amur).
Departures:
Goalie: Alexander Georgiyev. Defensemen: Yaroslav Belyakov (HC Sochi, trade), Roman Rukavishnikov. Forwards: Brandon Biro (Lowen Frankfurt, Germany), Nikita Korostelyov (Dynamo Moscow, trade), Maxim Krovyakov (Amur, loan), Ivan Morozov, Adam Ruzicka (Avtomobilist, trade).
Top 3 Signings
Before leaving the KHL, Ivan Fedotov was among the League’s top netminders and was named Goalie of the Year in the 2021-2022 season. In the same year, Fedotov won an Olympic silver medal in Beijing. At Spartak, he is expected to replace Alexander Georgiyev, who left the team this summer, and take over as the number one goalie.
At Amur, Alexander was one of the team’s leading scorers, finishing among the top five in points, goals and assists in each of his two seasons with the club. Galchenyuk is also expected to play a leading role at Spartak, where the Red-and-Whites’ attacking style should provide him with plenty of opportunities to produce offensively.
For many KHL fans, Comtois is remembered primarily for his ability to get under opponents’ skin and draw penalties. But in both of his seasons in the League, he was among Dynamo Moscow’s leading scorers. The Canadian forward also has an imposing physical presence, which he uses effectively in battles for the puck.
Coaching
Alexei Zhamnov said as early as last season that he had no intention of abandoning his principles, so we can expect his team to continue playing an open, attacking style of hockey. However, the arrival of specialists such as Peteris Skudra and Evgeny Koreshkov on Zhamnov’s coaching staff will likely bring changes to the team’s defensive play – an area that has drawn criticism in recent years.
Goalies
Spartak enter the season with Ivan Fedotov and Artyom Zagidulin as their goaltending tandem. The newcomer is expected to take over as the starter, while Zagidulin, as was the case last season following Georgiyev’s arrival, will serve as the backup. Twenty-one-year-old Evgeny Volokhin, who already saw KHL action last season, can always be called upon when needed.
Defense
The Red-and-Whites have added two players to their defensive corps: Alexander Bryntsev and Will Reilly. As Bryntsev himself has explained, his main duties will be penalty killing and blocking shots. The Canadian defenseman, meanwhile, has also been used on the blue line during the power play in preseason games, where he will compete with Joey Keane and Daniil Orlov for a role.
Forwards
On the one hand, Spartak lost Ivan Morozov, Adam Ruzicka, and Nikita Korostelyov, all of whom played in the team’s leading lines last season. On the other, the Red-and-Whites added Alexander Galchenyuk, Maxime Comtois and Evgeny Svechnikov. The first two are likely to play in the top six, while Svechnikov will probably take on a more defensive role.
Spartak’s main issue up front is the lack of centers. After all, Morozov had been the teams’ first option in the middle for several seasons. Ruzicka is also a natural center, although he was most often used on the wing.
Youngsters
The Red-and-Whites have plenty of talented young players in their system, some of whom have already been given opportunities in the KHL by the coaching staff in recent seasons. Sergei Lukyantsev and Ivan Ryabov should feature even more often for Spartak this season, having been with the team since the start of training camp. Yegor Varyushkin, Maxim Filimonov and Alexander Plesovskikh all made their Spartak debuts last season and could receive further call-ups in the upcoming campaign.
Ilya Kotlyarov has already played several preseason games for Spartak and could make his regular-season debut, while Evgeny Yakunin and Silantiy Kozhushko could also be among the newcomers to make their KHL debuts.
Expectations
Last year’s eighth-place finish in the West was not satisfactory for anyone at the club. This season, the Red-and-Whites will once again aim for a top-four finish in the Western Conference, followed by a first-round playoff victory and a push for the third round – a stage Spartak has yet to reach.
