KHL Power Rankings

In Russia, students are set to go back to school on September 1st, but that isn’t the only thing Russians are looking forward to on that day. As usual, the KHL season officially starts on the 1st of September and with the arrivals of some major players varying from the NHL, AHL and many Euro league’s, the KHL may have one of the most entertaining (if not the most entertaining) seasons in it’s existence. The last two seasons have ended very similar as in 2019-20 and in 2020-21 the final two teams were CSKA Moscow and Avangard Omsk. The first year CSKA came out victorious to bring the Gagarin cup to the most populated Russian city, and also the kremlin. The second year was a re-match between the two, and both teams were hungry for the cup.

Omsk was far more hungry for the Gagarin cup, which evidently ended in them winning the Gagarin in sweet revenge against those much hated CSKA’ers.

This year, the race for the Gagarin Cup could end in almost any possible way as the free agency frenzy in Russia caused the league to be flipped upside down and players went haywire. Many stars departed their beloved teams and decided to join different teams. To name a few, all star goaltender and Gagarin Cup champion Lars Johansson departed his KHL team of four seasons, CSKA Moscow, and in a shocking turn of events joined their greatest rival, SKA Saint Petersburg. Or maybe former Washington Capital Stanislav Galiev leaving Kazan AK-Bars and joining the other Moscow team, Dynamo Moscow on a two year deal.

The season is right ahead of us, and the pre-season is already underway. The teams are prepared to compete for the Gagarin cup, and the tensions are high for managers, fans and the players.

In this article we will go over all 23 KHL teams in a power ranking style to get a better understanding on how teams may turn out in the upcoming 2021-22 season.

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1- CSKA Moscow

(Photo Credit: newsbeezer)

Yeah, this pick might have been expected. CSKA has been one of the KHL’s most dominant teams for decades as not only is the owner generous with the money that he offers to his players, but the team is located in Moscow which attracts the biggest free agents as these stars would much rather make a large amount of cash playing in the heart of the largest country in the world, much rather than making a low amount somewhere in the middle of nowhere… nudge nudge, Cherepovets.

This year, the team suffered one of the most devastating losses in free agency, not only losing elite starting goalie Lars Johansson, but also losing Maxim Mamin to the Florida Panthers. Other major losses include defenceman Mat Robinson as he retired from pro hockey, longtime leader and mentor Ivan Telegin, and Brendan Leipsic.

The team may seem like they got weaker, but their additions almost definitely make up for the losses. CSKA brought in four NHL players to their squad, making them once again the hot spot for failed NHLers, not like they ever weren’t.

These outstanding additions include defenceman Nikita Nesterov who played the 2020-21 season with the Calgary Flames, Mikhail Grigorenko who gave the NHL one last shot with the Blue Jackets but had no intent of staying in North America, Joakim Nordtsrom who has been with four different NHL teams and played over 400 career games, and finally long time extra forward Lucas Wallmark.

Those weren’t the only additions though. Moscow dragged in 24 year-old unsigned Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov to replace Johansson, and it looks like it could be a better option than Johansson himself. The young-ish goalie is coming off of a recent .925 save percentage season. Not only is that impressive, but his past years have seen him record a 0.931, a 0.929, and a 0.933 save percentage. Young guys tend to break out with CSKA, and this could be Fedotov’s breakout season.

With the new additions, and the tough losses, CSKA remains the favourite to win the Gagarin cup and be the best team in the KHL. Not to mention the Kaprizov rumours…

Key Additions: Ivan Fedotov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Nesterov

Big Losses: Lars Johansson, Maxim Mamin, Mario Kempe

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2- SKA Saint Petersburg

(Photo Credit: Peter Kovalev\TASS via Getty Images)

It almost feels unfair how SKA only upgrades every off-season yet gets bounced in the second or third round of the playoffs. Could it be the coaching? Probably not, SKA employs one of the best coaches in all of Russia. Could it be the depth? Not whatsoever, SKA remains one of the most well built teams in Russian hockey history. What could be the issue then?

They’re like the Toronto Maple Leafs, they’re cursed.

SKA is another hot spot for NHL players with nowhere to go, we’ve seen it happen with Slava Voynov, Ilya Kovulchuk and Oscar Fantenberg. It has helped in the past as they have won two Gagarin cups in 2015 and 2017, but since then they’ve slowed down quite relatively. This year they stepped it up and told everyone they weren’t having it anymore.

Hated by the entire KHL, they stole goaltender Lars Johansson from CSKA to make him their own, brought in physical and young depth in Zakhar Bardakov, and signed young phenom Matvei Michkov to a long term deal. It’ll go without a doubt that SKA became so much more powerful than they were in 2020-21, and they may doubt some of the haters lingering around in their comment sections of their Instagram page. It’s not pretty, I’ll tell you that for free.

SKA adapted a new element into Russian hockey and that is called “bringing more youngsters in and trying them out”. They haven’t been too successful with that attempt before (Vasili Podkolzin) but that was due to Vasili not wanting to sign a contract extension with SKA. Now that they have guys like Michkov, Nikita Chibrikov (2021 Winnipeg Jets second round pick), and Kirill Kirsanov (LA Kings 2021 third round pick) locked up for decent terms, they’ll let the younger gentlemen plays, and give a wider eye for scouts across the world on the players while being a successful team.

Losing Vladimir Tkachev to the LA Kings was difficult to say the least for SKA, and that is because Vlad was their leading scorer throughout the regular season.

They may not realize it now, but Podkolzin’s presence will heavily be missed by SKA, especially after leading them in playoff points.

Saint Petersburg may have finally buffed up and became the well rounded team they’ve wanted to be for years, but they still won’t be matched in the regular season to CSKA. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t be a winning team come playoff time, but until then, they’re going to be right after Moscow, just like the cities when it comes to how beautiful they are.

Key Additions: Matvei Michkov, Fredrik Händemark, Lars Johansson

Big Losses: Vladimir Tkachev, Magnus Hellberg, Vasili Podkolzin

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3- Avangard Omsk

(Photo Credit: Yardbarker)

Last year’s Gagarin Cup champions finished high on the power rankings once again as they have in past years. Omsk doesn’t seem to be one of Russia’s most popular cities, but ever since they added head coach Bob Hartley to the coaching staff, it’s helped bring in past NHL’ers and gives them a chance to feel at home while being one of the most successful KHL teams.

This off-season was filled with both happiness and upset as the happiness obviously came from the championship they won, but the losses of some major players made it a hard blow. Some major players that helped Omsk defeat Moscow have left in free agency to bigger and brighter cities knowing they’ve won their rings in Omsk, and it was time to play elsewhere include leading point scorer in the regular season and Canucks alumni Reid Boucher, captain and arguably best defenceman Alexei Emelin, now NHLer Yegor Chinakhov, starting goalie Igor Bobkov, and Russian star Ilya Kovulchuk. These are only some of the losses that Avangard had to deal with, but they did bring in some other skillful and useful players to soften the blow quite a bit.

Former NHLer Peter Cehlarik signed with Omsk in hopes of gaining some recognition and his addition could be crucial to the team’s success as he had 40 points in 44 games in sweden last season. Bringing in Vasili Demenchenko is also a fantastic addition as Demencheko has had previous success in Russia as a starter, and could turn out to be a beyond solid starting goalie for Omsk. Bob Hartley once again remains Avangard’s head coach giving them a heavy boost in not only morale but also skill, as he won the head coach of the year at the 2021 KHL awards.

If Omsk was able to hang onto their stars in free agency and let them walk to better and nicer built teams in the off-season, they could be contenders for the first spot. It’s too bad that isn’t the case though. With these losses Omsk continues to look like a playoff team, but sadly not the one they were just a couple mere months ago.

Key Additions: Peter Cerhlak, Vasili Demenchenko, Ivan Telegin

Big Losses: Alexei Emelin, Reid Boucher, Ilya Kovulchuk

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4- Dynamo Moscow

(Photo Credit: Yury Kuzmin/KHL)

If there was a best off-season award, Dynamo could and would be the first place team for that award. The second most popular Moscow team succumbed to almost no free agency losses this summer, and when they did lose someone, that player was replaced immediately by someone better.

Bringing in players like Stanislav Galiev and Andrei Pedan were necessary to improve the team, and with those additions Dynamo looks like a very solid team with a lot of potential for the upcoming 2021-22 season. Not to mention the addition of Rob Klinkhammer, a very high scoring veteran with a Gagarin Cup in his past.

It's been said that Dynamo has been pushing it’s players at training camp harder than ever, which shows that the new head coach, Vladimir Krikunov, has been pushing the players to another level so that Dynamo could return to championship form that they had years ago.

The only big loss that Dynamo suffered was Dmitrij Jaskin (who had 60 points in 59 games last year) but that could have been the high possibility of him getting carried by the captain and best KHL player Vadim Shipyachov. Leading into the next topic, Shipachyov was locked up to an extension this summer, and with his new money motivation, we can possibly see Shipachyov take a further step in his game.

Goalie Ivan Bocharov isn’t getting any younger, but the crease remains in his possession as he’s heavily favoured by the league, the country of Russia, and his coaches. His outstanding athletic physical shape will help him become a better goalie and with a ton of summer games played this year, he’s ready to go. Young defenceman Andrei Priblysky finally ready to give out the next step, he could be the second best shutdown defenseman on the team right behind free agent acquisition Andrei Pedan.

Overall, Dynamo looks like a completely different team that they were last year, and the only reason that they’re not ranked at number three is because they need to prove themselves. They’re a solid regular season team, but come playoff time, they can’t seem to compete. This year though, that might change for good.

Key Additions: Stanislav Galiev, Andrei Pedan, Eric O’Dell

Big Losses: Dmitrij Jaskin, Daniil Tarasov, Teemu Pulkkinen

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5- AK-Bars Kazan

(Photo Credit: YLE)

AK-Bars Kazan is one of the oldest Russian hockey teams of all time, in one of the oldest Russian cities. How fitting. Kazan is home to the popular Chak-Chak trophy, which is essentially a trophy awarded to Kazan’s best player of the game made out of a Russian dessert called Chak Chak.

AK-Bars has been one of the best regular season teams in the KHL consistently finishing in the top three, which isn’t easy to do especially with teams like Omsk, St. Petersburg and both Moscow teams in the league. The playoffs aren't an issue for them as well because they’ve got the most Gagarin Cup wins out of any team in the league, with three of them. (Winning them in 2009, 2010, and 2018. These last three years have been very painful for Kazan as we haven’t seen them make it past the second round, and they continue to suffer deeply.

Props to them though, they’ve realized their mistakes and have created a very powerminded team this year, and look to become a championship winning team once again.

AK-Bars realized the offensive power was their largest issue last season and it was quite noticeable. They had only two players who were above average, and the rest couldn’t compete. For example, their leading point scorers were Nigel Dawes and Stephane Da Costa who had a combined points of 100 (57 points in 52 games for Da Costa and 43 points in 47 games for Dawes) but the third most in points on that team was Kirill Petrov who had only 27 points in 48 games played. The offence wasn’t there and that’s what the team set out in free agency to do.

They heavily improved their team by bringing in offensively minded players such as Par Lindholm who has played 106 NHL games, Jordan Weal who has played over 200 NHL games, Nikokai Kovalenko and offensive defenceman Trevor Murphy who’s found previous success in Russia. Not to mention they also brought in star goaltender Igor Bobkov to have an elitel and veteran presence in the crease.

Losing Nigel Dawes will greatly hurt the team though. His locker room presence and his magnificent skill was unmatchable and it’s too bad he’s moved on from the KHL and onto the DEL. His loss was big, but due to his aging, he might have been a liability to the team this year, as he was already starting to suffer defensively. Who knows, maybe his offensive game could have been next and Kazan was not going to risk paying him a fortune.

If you were to ask me where I’d put them on this list one year ago, they’d be around 10th or 11th because this team would not be built for the playoffs. But with their new and hefty additions, this looks like early 2010s Kazan again, and this year they have a real shot at winning the Gagarin Cup. The only reason they aren’t higher is because of the loss of Nigel Dawes.

Key Additions: Jordan Weal, Igor Bobkov, Par Lindholm

Big Losses: Nigel Dawes, Stanislav Galiev, Justin Azevedo

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6-Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

(Photo Credit: Yaroslav Neelov/KHL)

Lokomotiv is probably the coolest name for a sports team to ever exist and one day some North American sports teams should adapt it because it’s seriously top notch. What’s better than their name?

Well… yes… their nickname “Loko”, but also their hockey team located in the heart of Russia in the city of Yaroslavl.

Where do I even start with this powerhouse of a team? The incorperations of Reid Boucher and Alex Yelesin were so fantastic for the team and it goes unnoticed. This team went into free agency being an average KHL team with no Gagrin Cup hopes, and came out of it being a contender for the cup. The acquisitions they made, made this organization a much more likeable and a much better team. Let’s not forget how much new right winger Andre Petersson will help them out when his two way game kicks in like it did in Kazakhstan with Barys.

Even though they didn’t have that much star power last season (I’m talking about points from the players specifically) they still made the playoffs but didn’t look like a winning team. This year, they could be serious contenders and not pretenders. Their biggest loss was arguably Vladimir Tkachyov who will be joining Traktor Chelyabinsk, but that won’t hurt the team considering they replaced him with even better players who will further create Loko into a winning team.

It’s time for Loko to win, and it’s time for them to win big time. This team isn’t taking anyone’s crap (not like anyone was giving it to them, they’re a highly likeable team) and they want to win a Gagarin Cup. Yaroslavl is a boring city in Russia that needs to be spiced up with some of that sweet Gagarin Cup magic. The player’s are good, the coaching staff is strong, and the stakes are high in Yaroslavl. Loko deserves a Gagarin Cup more than anyone in the league, and they’ve created a realistic opportunity for them this year.

Key Additions: Reid Boucher, Maxim Shalunov, Alex Yelesin

Big Losses: Vladimir Tkachyov, Anton Lander, Magnus Paajarvi

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7- Traktor Chelyabinsk

(Photo Credit: Traktor Chelyabinsk/Twitter)

Another popular team among the country of Russia, Chelyabnisk can also be remembered for when a gigantic meteor struck the outskirts of the city not too many years ago. Enough about that useless information, let’s get to the hockey part of this.

Traktor has always been on the outside looking in when it comes to playoff succession and that’s because it has never worked out for them for some reason. Every year their management tries to bring in some great skill, yet Chelyabinsk, a city full of factories and pollution, seems to get steered away from the better KHL players. I wonder why...

This off-season might’ve been a little emotional for them as they lost some key pieces but also gained some replacements. A roller coaster of emotions if you will. The second that Traktor was eliminated from the playoffs, their young star was off to New York to play with the Rangers. That young star? Vitali Kravstov. Losing Pontus Aberg was also a tough blow because Aberg was their best two way guy on the second forward line and also killed penalties on their first PK line.

That doesn’t mean that Traktor isn’t a fantastic team, because they easily are. They’ve got countless KHL all stars and top notch players from Europe that will help them out quite a lot. It’s a shame the playoffs are usually a big fat fail when they happen for Chelyabinsk, but it's always the same mentality every year for this team.

“This is a real good team now, and if this isn’t their year, colour me shocked.”.

Hopefully this year the team does end up living up to expectations because they gave up a lot of money to make their team better, and everyone surely hopes it doesn’t all go to waste. Adding players like Vladimir Tkachyov (not the LA Kings one, a different KHL player), Vitali Abramov, Teemu Pulkkinen and Emil Garipov causes this roster to trump every other roster this team has ever built. The management really let themselves go off in free agency and just said that they weren't having the trolling from fans get to them. Having other star players like Lawrence Pilut, Tomas Hyka, and Lukas Sedlak continue to give their first line of defence and top six an elite taste.

It was a big gamble for Chelyabinsk this off-season bringing in some interesting players, but it will all be worth it once they win the Gagarin Cup. That’s right, I have Traktor winning it all in the Gagarin Cup playoffs as the semi-underdogs. Until they prove that they’re a solid playoff team, it leaves me no choice to place them out of the top five.

Key Additions: Vitali Abramov, Emil Garipov, Teemu Pulkkinen

Big Losses: Vitali Kravtsov, Ivan Fedotov, Pontus Aberg

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8-Salavat Yulaev Ufa

(Photo Credit: Vlad Bezzubov/ KHL)

Salavat Yulaev is presumably the final team that I can confidently say that they have a superlative shot at winning the Gagarin Cup. It’s not a shot at the other team’s that will be listed below, (except it kind of is, please for the sake of making the KHL fun, make better teams) it’s more of a way of saying that these guys have a good team built, and that they’re basically the worst of the best.

You see, Salavat has always been a popular and enjoyable team to watch for a decade now as they’ve won one Gagarin Cup back in 2011. They’ve never missed the playoffs once in their existence, but better yet they were like the Detroit Red Wings in their final years of their 26 year playoff run; they couldn’t win but they were still making the playoffs. I fully expect nothing to change again this year. I’m not saying that they won’t win, but the chances are slim.

You see, Salavat sits in one of the worst (if not the worst) division and they usually stack up their points on the bad teams. Yet for some reason every year they’re always starstruck by the higher elite teams in the league and they lose in dramatic fashion.

Their off-season was quite boring to be frank with you. They added some decent pieces to their core including Flyers prospect Mikhail Vorobyov, Arizona Coyotes alumni Viktor Thkinov, and Alexander Skrynnik. None of those players are big players and game changers, but Salavat’s cap space was very limited and all of their money is directed to it’s stars.

Speaking of those stars, they aren’t expected to slow down anytime soon. Ufa has Teemu Hartikainen, Markus Granlund, and Sakari Manninen who were all point per game (or almost) last season. They’re all elite stars in the KHL who could be in the NHL, but they choose to be in Ufa. What is interesting is that the top three players on that team are from Finland which I guess is a second home for Finnish players when they don’t want to go to Jokerit in Helsinki.

Salavat is a great team with some elite level talent, but they haven’t been able to win in the playoffs. They have all the assets to be a championship team, but they never generate and that’s why I have them ranked 8th. Or better yet the worst of the best as I mentioned earlier because every team after this list, is an unrealistic expectation to win the Gagarin Cup. Ufa barely slides into the positive category.

Key Additions: Viktor Tikhinov, Mikhail Vorobyov, Alexander Skrynnik

Big Losses: Nikita Soshnikov, Dmitri Korobov, Alexander Alexeyev

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9- Metallurg Magnitogorsk

(Photo Credit: KHL)

The two time Gagarin Cup champions are going into another season where they aren’t expected to succeed. Ever since their last Gagarin Cup in 2016, they’ve struggled to stay a championship worthy team, and it seems like they haven’t tried to make themselves any better since.

This off-season they shaped up their squad a little differently. Metallurg let go of some players that helped them win some games including their second leading point scorer and former NHLer Sergei Plotnikov. Plotnikov has bounced around the KHL as he’s played for three different teams in three different years, but this year he was locked up by CSKA long term causing Magnitogorsk to go out and search for a new winger. That’s when they picked up Brendan Leipsic in free agency. Leipsic had 24 points in 42 games. The replacement for Plotnikov wasn’t even on the same level, so that’s a fall off on it’s own.

Another major fall off for Magnitogorsk was losing their leading point player in both the regular season and playoffs, Taylor Beck. Beck was also a victim of only one season in Metallurg and then it was enough. These losses were major for Metallurg and they will cause the team to be even worse than years previous. The additions of Leipsic and Philipe Maillet do soften the blow, but their previous losses will hurt them infinitely.

Magnitogrosk isn’t the same team it once was and I don’t think anyone has high hopes for them this year. The playoffs may be a lock due to the fact that the other teams are not really good in that division, so they’ll make it. They won’t go far, but they’ll make it. Hopefully the underdog players like Nikolay Goldobin and Ilya Nikolayev can step up to the plae and take over as their leading point scorers to help them bounce back, but until they buff up, that won’t be happening.

Key Additions: Brendan Leipsic, Philippe Maillet, Josh Currie

Big Losses: Taylor Beck, Sergei Plotnikov, Andrej Nestrasil

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10- Jokerit

(Photo Credit: Jokerit/ Twitter)

I find it confusing why Jokerit took Helsinki out of their name, but I guess they’ve got the idea that they have so much popularity that they don’t need their city in their team name. That’s like the LA Kings being just the “Kings” or the Vancouver Canucks being just the “Canucks”. Maybe instead of changing their name they should attempt to make a winning team instead of bringing in washed up Finnish players year after year.

Sorry, but that’s the truth.

Jokerit does not have any Gagarin Cups, and they always get bounced in the first or second round. They’ve never been a winning team in the playoffs, just a very popular team. Jokerit has brought in ex-NHLers ever since day one and some ex-NHLers on their 2021-22 season include Anders Lindback, Philip Holm, Nick Jensen, and Jordan Schroeder. These players were once NHLers with lots of hope and tons of skill, but now they get bounced early in the playoffs with Helsenki.

Jokerit brought in some new talent to their organization during the summer to bulk up their squad, but they didn’t exactly succeed at that. (That’s why they’re tenth on the list). Some of those players that they brought in are Niko Mikkola and Kristjan Kombe who are both young players with the potential to break out. In fact, Mikkola’s rights are owned by the St. Louis Blues and he scored his first NHL goal late in the 2020-21 season. It is most likely that these two young studs will thrive playing with guys like Nicklas Jensen and Brian O’Neill. Although these additions will most likely help out Jokerit in all aspects of the game, they had to say goodbye to defenceman Viktor Loov who’s been their defensive shutdown leader for years, and they lost him as he went back home to play in Sweden.

Another player that Jokerit lost was Jakub Krejcik who has bounced around league from league, but his presence on defence was seen immediately once he joined jokerit, and you’ll notice the defence gets weaker next year. I am making an argument saying that Krejcik deserves a shot at the NHL purely because of his defensive skill. His offensive side struggles, but man is he one of the best shutdown guys in Europe. It’s shocking how no NHL scouts have given the 30-year old a chance, but he deserves one more than anyone. His skills go unnoticed and it shocks me how Jokerit simply let him walk away in free agency without making an offer.

Jokerit lost more skill than it gained this summer, and since they weren’t exactly top notch last year, they’re going to be painfully average this season. I give them credit for seeing potential in Mikkola and Kombe (I’m personally really high on Kombe myself) but after such devastating blows in free agency, I have no choice but to rank them tenth. What was once one of the more fun teams to watch, has turned into an overrated and average team that simply doesn’t have a shot at the Gagarin Cup.

Key Additions: Niko Mikkola, Kristjan Kombe, Otto Leskinen

Big Losses: Viktor Loov, Jakub Krejcik, Peter Regin

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11- Vityaz Podolsk

(Photo Credit: KHL)

Hot take central with this choice and I fully understand anyone who disagrees with this take, which should be many people.

Vityaz finished the season last year 6th out of 7 teams last year in the Tarasov division and missed the playoffs. The summer wasn’t kind to them at all as they lost their three most scoring forwards in free agency. Those players were Justin Danforth who recorded 55 points in 58 games, Kaspars Daugavins who had 49 points in 58 games, and Mattias Tedenby who had 35 points in 54 games played. Losing your three best players for absolutely nothing is always devastating, even though it happens very rarely in any league, in fact any sport.

This usually causes the team to fall off a cliff and that’s what people project to happen with Podolsk, but not me. I truthfully Podolsk will rise out from the shadows and shock the KHL. Last year was painful, and even though they lost their stars, that doesn’t mean they won’t be hungry for revenge.

Their additions were quite adequate and there are sizeable chances for them to break out with Vityaz. One of those high-potential players include 25 year-old Daniel Audette. Audette has played for two different NHL organizations (the Florida Panthers and the Montreal Canadiens) and spent the 2020-21 season in the Liiga where he had 50 points in 60 games. Audette has shown success in Europe before, and the chances of him being a late bloomer are high and he could become a KHL all-star next season.

Another addition to the squad was an elite KHL defenceman and a former NHLer in Viktor Antipin. Antipin has been in the KHL for years and has always been regarded as an elite defenceman who breaks up chances and creates goal scoring opportunities in the opposite zone. Teams were begging him to have him, but Podolsk got so lucky by receiving his presence, and once he starts his career with them on September 1st, he’ll make the team so much better.

Other additions helped out Podolsk in the off-season were KHL veteran and all star Miks Indrasis, youngster Nikita Gonchar and also SHLer Niko Ojamaki. These players could very well replace their losses, and I personally really think that Vityaz will turn some heads and possibly make a case for the playoffs in their elite division.

Key Additions: Miks Indrasis, Viktor Antipin, Justin Danforth

Big Losses: Justin Danforth, Kaspars Daugavins, Mattias Tedenby

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12- Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

(Photo Credit: KHL)

Another team with a great name and an awesome nickname. Their nickname is “Avto” and that’s what I’ll be calling them. This team has had it’s on and off seasons these last couple years, but in reality, they won’t win a Gagarin Cup anytime soon. Thei lack of scoring depth and their lack of solid defensive defenseman make them weaker in that aspect of the game, causing their starting goalie Jakub Kovar to do all the dirty work for the team.

That was proven last year when Avto ended up winning 35 games last season in the regular season, but ended up getting bounced real quickly in the playoffs. Kovar couldn’t withstand the horrible defence, and he ended up crumbling like a cookie under pressure.

That being Avto’s biggest issue, the management group did end up somewhat fixing that problem by bringing in Jesse Blacker. Blacker has bounced around from league to league these last couple seasons, but found himself signing a two year deal in Yekaterinburg this year. The Toronto native celebrated his 30th birthday in April this year, meaning that he’s still young and can still make a bearable impact on the team. Blacker is known for his elite defensive play across the KHL as he once found himself in free agency four years ago, getting offers from every single team in the KHL. Blacker will help create a much better defensive atmosphere with Avto, as well as a suitable leadership and veteran presence in the locker room.

Adding Patrice Cormier was a beyond solid addition, and that’s because Avto may be one of the scariest and hardest teams to play against next season. Cormier is a known enforcer in the KHL, known to have up to 15 fights a season, and winning almost all of them. With him being in the lineup, as well as Nikita Tryamkin and Sergei Zborosvksy, this team will end up being one of the more physical squads. Other notable acquisitions include elite goal scorer Stephane Da Costa, Ryan Spooner and Shane Prince.

While these additions were much needed and highly anticipated, there were some major losses that will indeed hurt the team more than the additions will improve the team. Let’s start with the most obvious one, and that would be their best player and their MVP, Nigel Dawes. For years now, it was Dawes who led the team and helped contribute so much success to Avto, but seeing this as his last year in his contract year he decided to walk out of the KHL and enter the DEL. Hopefully NIgel finds even more success there than the KHL, because he was getting his career wasted in Russia without winning a cup.

Another big loss was Peter Holland, who was third on the team in scoring and was second on the team in playoff points. Holland played as the first line centerman on the team, but that hole will most likely be filled out by Ryan Spooner, who could be arguably better than Holland. It will all come down to playing time. Losing Dan Sexton also doesn’t help as he was fourth on the team in points and was a tank for the team on the second line.

Overall, the team did get worse and it won’t be that much easier for Jakub Kovar in net next season. Datsyuk will lead that team onto the ice which is a massive plus, but the team continues to stay weak (weaker than last year) and it doesn’t seem like the Gagarin Cup is in close range for them.

Key Additions: Jesse Blacker, Patrice Cormier, Ryan Spooner

Big Losses: Nigel Dawes, Peter Holland, Dan Sexton

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13- Barys Nur-Sultan

(Photo Credit: The Astana Times)

The only team from Kazakhstan in the KHL comes in 13th on our rankings and that is somewhat controversial seeing that they finished third in their division last season. Don’t get me wrong when I say this, but this team went on such a flukey regular season run last year it almost seemed magical. That was all blown out of proportion a little bit later when they lasted six games in the playoffs before getting bounced.

Let’s start with the fact that they lost so much skill. That goes for offensive skill, defensive skill, and goaltending skill.

That’s gotta sting real bad.

They lost their best forward in free agency, Linus Videll. Videll was bringing out a pure playmaking ability to Barys every night and constantly helped generate offensive opportunities as well as net a few pucks in every so often. He knew how to bring his team up when they were down, and his intensity and speed will be missed in Kazakhstan.

Losing some offensive depth hurt Barys too, and that would be Pavel Akolzin. Akolzin may not contribute on the scoresheet too often, but he brings a physical and an elite sense of defence when it comes down to it. He‘s quick on the back checks and he always makes the first pass out to accelerate some offence opportunities.

Those losses on offence can go a long way, and not many people realize that a loss of a talented bottom six player can go a long way, especially for a team with a notoriously flukey past. The offensive additions were simply said, low but effective. They added two key pieces on offence that could go a long way. The names of the two additions are Cody Kunyk who has been playing in the Finnish leagues for the last little while, and former NHLer Christian Thomas. Kunyk makes his first career KHL appearance after spending four years in the Liiga as a high scoring second line centerman, and Thomas re-enters the KHL as he took a one year break from it to play in Liiga as well.

On the defensive side of things, they took a fall in losing Jesse Blacker in free agency. As mentioned earlier, Blacker is one of the best defensive defenseman in the NHL and the difference a player like him makes in his own end can change the way a team plays defensively almost entirely.. He brought grit, defensive skill and other great aspects to the team, which was crucial when the team needed him most.

For some unknown reason, young defensive star Valeri Orekhov won’t play in the upcoming KHL season leaving an even bigger hole in the defensive side of things for Barys.

Their replacements came in quickly into free agency as they added NHL prospect Olle Alsing who will likely help out in the offensive side of the defence, but less in the defensive side, leaving the shutdown area still in trouble. Adding Roman Sachenko will be a risky addition knowing his past with injuries hasn’t benefited his side whatsoever. In fact, he suited up for only 12 games last season. It was nice of Barys to give him another shot, but he won’t be anything more than a bottom pair defenceman anyways. Given his age and injury past, this may be Sachneko’s last shot at pro hockey.

Finally the goaltending. Losing a nominee for best goalie of the year is never fun right? You always want to bring a top three goalie in the KHL back, right? Well that’s what happened to Barys… a year ago. Since then they brought in goaltender Joni Ortio who has been serviceable and acceptable at best (putting up a .914), but he’s no Eddie Pasquale, the goalie that Barys lost. Not to mention, Henrik Karlsson retired from pro hockey this summer at the age of 37, causing Barys to lose one of the best A2 goalie’s in the KHL. This year they’ve got Nikita Boyarkin and Andrei Shutov battling it out for the backup spot, both are 23 year olds looking to make a name for themselves.

In the end if you took Barys’ team from two years ago and compared it to the team we see today, it would look hilarious. And that’s exactly what it is. The team has fallen off a cliff since their 39 win season two years ago, and based on these last few years of losing star players without gaining any power, they may be a bottom feeder team like they were five or six years ago.

Key Additions: Olle Allsing, Cody Kunyk, Christian Thomas

Big Losses: Linus Videll, Jesse Blacker, Pavel Akolzin

…

14- Dinamo Minsk

(Photo Credit: All About the Jerseys)

The one and only Belarusian team falls to 14th place in our rankings and that may be a tad generous speaking truthfully. After a season that saw them barely squeaking into the playoffs then losing in round one, the team underwent some serious changes. Those changes were mixes of good and bad, but in the most part it did look worse than the team would have probably hoped it to be.

Losing your leading scorer is pretty bad, right? Try losing your top three. Not enough? Bump it up to losing your top five. Still not having it? Alright, how does losing your first seven leading point scores sound? That’s exactly what happened to Minsk this off-season. They lost Shane Prince and Ryan Spooner to Avto, lost Brennan Menell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, lost Rob Klinkhammer to Dynamo Moscow, Yegor Sharangovich to the New Jersey Devils, and Stepan Falkovsky to SKA, as well as Brandon Kozun to another Euro league. The next best player on Minsk was Artem Demkov, who had only 18 points in 49 games as a centerman.

Those losses were beyond tough for the team and the squad will undoubtedly be worse than last year, but they did bring in some solid pieces to soften the blow.

The biggest acquisition was Tyler Graovac, a player who spent all of last season in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks. Graovav will look to take over the KHL as a solid goal scorer who plays a fashionable two way game. They also signed forward Mario Kempe (brother of LA Kings forward Adrian) to help out on the offensive side. Kempe played the 2020-21 season with CSKA Moscow and had 22 points in 33 games. Mattias Tedenby was also brought in from Vityaz Podolsk who plays a physical style of an offensive game. Not the greatest defensively though.

Some other players that Dynamo added include high scoring defenceman Lukas Bengtsson, youngster Alexei Kolosov who will get some games in as a goalie, and KHL all-star Taylor Beck.

In the end, the changes will inevitably cause the team to feel let down and gassed out, and the new additions may not feel entirely comfortable immediately. The playoffs are not completely out of the picture, but a massive miracle will be much needed.

Key Additions: Taylor Beck, Tyler Graovac, Mario Kempe

Big Losses: Shane Prince, Ryan Spooner, Brennen Menell

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15- Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

(Photo Credit: KHL-Marketing)

One of the least popular teams in the KHL happen to fall to 15th this year, even though they were around 12th or 13th last year. Torpedo went through a “mid” off-season as the team went through all sorts of changes, but overall the team looks very similar to last year’s team with some extra youngsters that are going to get a chance to prove themselves.

Those youngsters come in all shapes, sizes, and positions. The first one and arguably the most exciting one is defenceman Alexander Pelevin. The 2004 born defensive defenceman spent the 2020-21 in the MHL developing his game, and even though a KHL spot isn’t guaranteed for a 17 year-old, he may play in some games and have a valued impact almost immediately. Another youngster with the chance to turn some heads is sniper Denis Vengryzhanovsky (mouthful, I know). Denis is a 2001 born forward who’s spent the last little while in the MHL under Torpedo and has constantly been a top player for the team and even served as an alternate captain for two years. After putting up a total of 43 points and 16 goals in 56 games in the MHL over the span of two years, it seems that he’s finally earned a spot on the KHL team. The chances of him winning rookie of the year aren’t slim, in fact I would argue he is the favourite for the trophy.

Torpedo did lose a couple of foundational players including their best defenceman, Chris Wideman, who signed an NHL contract with the Montreal Canadiens on July 1st. It’ll undoubtedly hurt the team in the d-zone, but also in the offensive zone too as Wideman was a constant point producer. Losing Ivan Chekhovich to the AHL isn’t nice as well, as he played the first line in Nizhny Novgorod. Losing him will hurt the team more than they think it will, and not just because of his skill. His giddy personality and leadership will be missed on and off the ice as well. Some other notable losses were right winger Jordan Szwarz, Justin Kloos, and goaltender Aelxei Melnichuk.

Although there were some tough losses that hurt Nizhny Novgorod, they did pick up some really good players in free agency that will save this team from being a dumpster fire. One of those players is Kenny Agostino. Agostino went point per game in the AHL last season, but he’ll need to prepare harder to keep that pace up in Russia. The KHL is a far better league than the AHL, and if Agostino wants another chance at the NHL, he’ll need to blow the roof off Nizhny Novgorod. A couple of other key additions to help Torpedo include Daniel Zaar (who was almost PPG in the SHL with Rögle), youngster goalie Pyotr Kotchetkov, and defenceman Theodor Lennstrom.

Torpedo has a very young team with so much potential, it can seriously benefit their team as soon as this year. But until we see those young players take the further step and take over as the go-to guys, Nizhny Novgorod will stay a team closer to missing the playoffs. It hurts right now, but in a matter of a couple of years, this team will be dangerous and one of the most lethal KHL teams in history. Let the future take over soon, because once they do, it won’t be pretty for other teams.

Key Additions: Daniel Zaar, Kenny Agostino, Theodor Lennstrom

Big Losses: Chris Wideman, Ivan Chekhovich, Jordan Szwarz

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16- Spartak Moscow

(Photo Credit: KHL)

There isn’t too much to say about Spartak. They have exactly the same type of team as they had last year with relatively no losses or no gains. If they added anyone, it would be depth forwards and VHL level players. They lost in the first round last year, and that’s what will most likely happen again. This team is far from Gagarin Cup caliber, but they aren't exactly a non-playoff team yet. They could miss the playoffs, but they would have to screw up real bad to do that.

Key Additions: N/A

Big Losses: N/A

...

17- Sibir Novosibirsk

(Photo Credit: The Global Domain News)

The first team on this list that missed the playoffs in the 2020-21 season is Sibir. Sibir has gone through some crazy shifts and movements in the last couple years as the team has been flipped upside down, hung sideways and shaken up. The management has never found a team that they like so they like to buy out players and sign players to one year deals so that they can have more leverage on what to do with the team and the players once their short term contracts end.

Let’s start with them losing their best player to the SHL, Mikael Ruohomaa. Mikael led the team in assists and points last year, while having a dead plus/minus of 0 while playing high minutes against difficult competition. Losing him won’t benefit Novosibirsk in any way, but it may have been time for them to move and find some other viable options for their team. Sibir hasn’t found any success while he was there, so they decided to shake things up. They also willingly let Juuso Puustinen walk into free agency so he could sign in Sweden. Juuso was third in the team in scoring with 30 points in 46 games. He also led the team in goal scoring. That move might have been confusing, but the management in Novosibirsk was getting restless and wanted change. And by their standards, that means bringing in new and better stars to lead the team to victory.

Those new stars that the management group added were all of variety to fit the team in their very own ways. That mainly means they took experience and valued it more than skill this year. They wanted an experienced team with lots of talent. That’s why they brought in Nick Shore. Shore went over a point per game in the NL, but he also has 299 career NHL games and has played on many successful NHL teams that include the mid 2010s LA Kings, the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019-20, and the Winnipeg Jets in the same year. Nick Shore knows what it takes to win, and that’s what Sibir wanted from him. He will most likely play on their first line centering RW Oleg Lee, and new addition on the left side, Anton Wedin. Wedin has spent the last few years bouncing around the world. He’s gone from the AHL, to the SHL and now the KHL. The speedy winger had 30 points in 39 games last year in the SHL, and will most likely start on the first line in Novosibirsk. He’s also got four NHL games under his belt which Sibir obviously values.

Although the additions cancel out the difficult losses, this is far from a playoff team. They don’t have that click that other KHL teams have, and when they keep changing up the roster every five minutes, they won’t get anywhere. It’s too bad that they won’t because they’re a very likeable team with all the opportunity in the world to improve. They will most likely once again miss the playoffs, but on the bright side they’ll be closer to the playoffs than they were last year. If they keep their stars and improve their depth, they will be a playoff team. Until they realize that, they won’t get anywhere. Sometimes you have to feel bad for them.

Key Additions: Nick Shore, Anton Wedin, Trevor Murphy

Big Losses: Mikael Ruohomaa, Juuso Puustinen, Yefim Gurkin

…

18- Amur Khabarovsk

(Photo Credit: Conway's Russian Hockey Blog)

Khabarovsk is home to their beloved KHL team, Amur, but also one of the most popular lakes in all of Russia. The lake’s name is Khabarovsk Krai and it tends to bring in a ton of tourists and that benefits the KHL team too. Lots of players like to live somewhere nice and beautiful, and Khabarovsk is an amazing place. That being said, the team underwent some changes this off-season and they will be a different looking team.

When I say they’ll look like a different team, I say they’re not going to make the playoffs. They didn’t make any positive changes except adding a couple depth pieces. They also lost a couple of their leading point players so that won’t be good for them. Especially after missing the playoffs last year, you’d think they would go for a heavy improvement. They arguably got worse over the off-season.

They lost many players but the main ones that will be noticeable were Valentin Pyanov who was fourth in the team in scoring, Marek Linghammer who split starter time last season while posting up a 0.916, Hynek Zahorna who was third on the team in scoring, Alex Polunin who was third on the team in scoring, Denis Golubev who was fifth on the team in scoring and many many other players that they had. Basically, they’ve gotten rid of every single one of their leading scorers and replaced them with some painfully mediocre players. It’s almost like they’re trying to be bad.

Those painfully mediocre players were of different varieties including defenseman and forwards. Some of those players include defensive defenceman Artyom Alyayev, Dmitri Znakharenko, Andrei S. Alexeyev, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Kirill Slepets, Radan Lenc who comes in from the Czech leagues, low scoring veteran in Ilya Zubov and many other depth pieces who are unlikely to fill the shoes of the players that Amur lost.

Just like last year, Amur isn’t going to make the playoffs. They brought in so many players and shook the team up to make it look somewhat better, but that isn’t a playoff team. If they didn’t get rid of most of their leading scorers and replace them with unproven and washed up players, they could be something great. Sadly, they didn’t do that and we can once again expect this team to crap the bed.

Key Additions: Ilya Zubov, Radan Lenc, Andrei S. Alexeyev

Big Losses: Valentin Pyanov, Hynek Zohorna, Denis Golubev

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19- Severstal Cherepovets

(Photo Credit: KHL-Marketing)

After a very flukey regular season last year, the players on Severstal lost in the very first round of the playoffs in five games. This year, I don’t see the team succeeding like they did last year. Last season they went 32-24-1 and finished 4th in the Tarasov division. The coaching staff was shaken up a bit by the management as they switched out for a new goalie coach as well as a new power play coach, which makes no sense considering the powerplay was the main reason as to why Severstal was a winning team last year.

It was a relatively boring off-season in Cherepovets and that's due to the team being low budget and having relatively the same roster as last year. The only notable things that happened were that they lost the following players: Alex Petunin, Vadim Kudako, and Vladislav Provelnev. None of those players will be big hits to the roster because they were easily replaced by offensive defenseman Robin Press (who’s actually a very solid defenceman as he won best defender of the season in the SHL in 2020-21), Robert Rooba and Kirill Rasskazov.

In the end, last year was a massive fluke in almost every single way and taking out the power play coach will end up horribly. The team never lost anyone crucial and never gained anyone who will make a game changing difference. The team won’t repeat their magical regular season run from last year, and will most likely miss the playoffs in the upcoming year.

Key Additions: Robin Press, Robert Rooba, Kirill Rasskazov

Big Losses: Alex Petunin, Vadim Kudako, Vladislav Provelnev

…

20- HK Sochi

(Photo Credit: Second City Hockey)

How do I say this nicely… This team is painfully horrible. Considering Sochi is Russia’s paradise (and the city has hosted the olympics previously) it’s funny how no star players are attracted to the team or the environment. Sochi has wonderful beaches and warm weather especially during the fall, it’s very strange how they don’t bring in more star power.

This year they brought in all sorts of skill so that they would try to avoid the season they had previously. The team has been nothing short of awful in the last few years and the management is slowly creating a much better team. They brought in an ex-NHLer in JC Lipon who has spent most of his prime in the AHL, but spent the last season with Dinamo Riga where he had 20 points in 37 games. He wasn’t getting played too often there, but he will get lots of ice time in Sochi and he could bounce back and elevate his game to become an even better player. They also brought in 6’6 elite KHL goaltender Magnus Hellberg. Magnus played the 2020-21 season with SKA and had a 0.930 save percentage and a whopping 1.89 GAA. Hellberg will help out Sochi in so many ways and could be the backbone of the team. He’s an elite KHL goalie who deserves a chance in the NHL, yet he chooses to stay in Russia.

Another solid addition to the squad was Pavel Shen. Shen had his ELC terminated by the Boston Bruins in hopes of coming back home to Russia and dominating there, and he most likely will. Sochi will give him buttloads of minutes and with the minutes that he needs for his development, he will succeed and become a high scoring forward with some serious game speed. Whoever ended up landing Pavel Shen was going to hit big, and that’s what happened with Sochi.

Their subtractions were indifferent. They lost their leading scorer in Sergei Shimlyov who had 43 points in 60 games. Even though Shmilyov was a huge part of the team and Sochi will definitely miss his presence, they had to make room and make money to bring in the bigger and better players. They also lost Daniil Miromanov who left to the AHL but is still unsigned. Daniil was a third line player who had a great sense of defence, but he can be easily replaced by the young guys on the team. They also lost Alexei Krasikov who served as Sochi’s starter, but that was easily fixed with Hellberg. Not to mention Krasikov struggled quite a tad as he only had a 0.905 save percentage.

What Sochi did this off-season was inarguably amazing. They improved their team in every aspect and they will be a better team than they were last year. The front office deserves credit for how much that team improved. But in all reality, they’re far from a playoff team. They improved a lot, but they still aren’t at that playoff level, especially in their division filled with some very powerful teams.

Key Additions: JC Lipon, Magnus Hellberg, Pavel Shen

Big Losses: Alexei Krasikov, Daniil Miromanov, Sergei Shmilyov

…

21- Kunlun Red Star

(Photo Credit: Kunlun Red Star/ Twitter)

Oh boy, where do I even start with this one. I want to say this as nicely as possible, but I don’t know how. So I’ll do it the only way I can.

Ever since Kunlun joined the KHL in the 2016-17 season, they’ve been nothing short of a dumpster fire, inside of a train wreck that's on fire, that can’t be put out no matter how you try and stop it. It’s honestly so painful to watch them lose every game they play 8-3. I don’t even understand how it’s humanly possible to have these many ex-NHLers and past stars and be this bad. The team didn’t win a game until their 16th game last season, it’s staright up embarrassing.

This off-season was interesting to say the least. Let’s go over the subtractions first. Kunlun lost a past Canuck in free agency, Hunter Shinkaruk. Shinkaruk was second on the team in points with 30 in 47 games played, and was the best winger on that team. They also lost Vyacheslav Leshenko, who served as the team’s third line right wing. He had 14 points in 33 games. Not to mention they lost their starting goalie in Dmitry Shikin who posted up a .906. They also had to suffer the losses of Sam Lofqvist and Vojtech Mozik, two very solid defensive defencemen who made positive impacts even though they were on a painfully horrid team.

Who did they get to replace all of these star players? They got virtually nobody back. I’m not even kidding, this team somehow got worse. A lot of their roster spots have been filled out with young players getting called up from the MHL and some other spots filled out by awful players getting call ups from the VHL. I can’t stress enough how awful this team looks this year, and if I’m being generous not putting them last. Having them this high is more of a pity pick. They have potential to be last in the league by a long shot, and who knows, maybe instead of not winning a game until their 16th, they won’t win one until their 20th.

Key Additions: Victor Bartley, Paris O’Brien, Josh Nicholls

Big Losses: Hunter Shinkaruk, Ivan Nikolishin, Vojtech Mozik

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22- Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

(Photo Credit: KHL-Marketing)

Nizhnekamsk finished last season with the record of 19-39-2, making them the third worst team in the entire league, and as you can guess, they missed the playoffs. For the most part it was the lack of superstars that caused them to be a horrible team, but it also needs to be taken into account that the coaching staff happens to be one of the worst (if not the worst) in the KHL, and also the awful goaltending. Their starting goaltender, Yevgeni Ivannikov, posted a 0.902 save percentage and a 3.18 GAA while going 15-22-1. Their backup goalie, Konstantin Barulin went 2-15-1 (dear lord) and had 0.887 save percentage and a 3.77 GAA.

This team needed to make changes, but not just simple changes. They need a whole damn makeover is what they need. The organization has produced so many stars and Nizhnekamsk is home to some very popular players (in both cases, Mikhail Sergachev), it feels crazy to think how poor they are. The team needed to be re-built from head to toe but the management has never had the green light to do that from ownership causing them to be this bad for this long.

Neftikhimik made a few changes this season, but for the most part this team didn’t change too much. The first move that should be talked about is how they finally decided to make a change to the goaltending. They kept Ivannikov who was their starter, but got rid of Barulin because he was so awful. Instead, they brought in Frans Tuohimaa. Tuohimaa is a 30 year-old goalie coming off of a 0.898 season in the LIIGA with HIFK. He played thirty games and served as sort of an A2 goalie on the team. He isn’t anything special, and in fact he has potential to be worse than Barulin, but they needed a new face on the net and you never know if he can work out or not. They also added defenceman Andrei Geraschenko, a Belarusian player who played all of last year in the belarusian hockey league. He plays a physical style of defence that involves almost no scoring. He doesn’t score, and he doesn’t get points but he knows how to defend the crease. That’s exactly what they need, knowing they have poor goaltending. They also brought in Dan Sexton, a solid scoring right winger who knows how to score goals and create big plays at all times. Sexton used to play with Neftekhimik from 2013 to 2018, and then he left in free agency to play with Avto. After three years in Yekaterinburg, he has returned to his very first KHL home to most likely finish his career.

The team didn’t suffer with losses as well. As we know they already lost their backup goalie in Konstantin Barulin, which is actually a very good thing. Getting rid of a horrible goaltender like that is always good, especially if you’re trying to improve. Replacing him was heavily needed, and it was a smart move by the management to let him go. They also lost Vladimir Galuzin, who had 18 points in 43 games. A 33 year old veteran depth player, Galuzin spent one year with this team before leaving in free agency. In all honesty, there won’t be much missed from him. Another loss, and probably the biggest loss was their captain. Alexander Osipov was named Neftikhimik’s captain in his very first and only season with the team. The reason as to why he was named their captain was due to his leadership and years of experience in the KHL. It won’t be a massive loss because he’s easily replaced, but losing your captain is never fun.

To conclude with this team, they haven’t changed too much. They didn’t lose and didn’t gain anyone. Frankly, they won’t be any better than they were last year, in fact they could be worse. The morale is down and the players are tired. This team will miss the playoffs, and there isn’t much else to it.

Key Additions: Dan Sexton, Andrei Geraschenko, Frans Tuohimaa

Big Losses: Konstantin Barulin, Vladimir Galuzin, Alexander Osipov

…

23- Dinamo Riga

(Photo Credit: Reddit)

It’s fair to say that Riga’s 2020-21 season was one of the worst KHL seasons of all time. Can you imagine not winning 10 games in a 60 game season? Because that’s exactly what happened in the capital of Latvia. Dinamo went 9-41-10 and finished dead last in the regular season. On this list, they fall to dead last once again.

Has this team improved? Yes, they have. They brought in players such as Hunter Shinkaruk who was a great player on a horrible team, they added Sebastian Wannstrom who did fairly well in the SHL, they brought in a skilled player in Lukas Radil who knows how to play some real good hockey, and also former NHL defenceman Frank Corrado to fix some of the defensive systems.

The subtractions were as visible as the additions. They lost their best player in Miks Indrasis to Vityaz Podolsk. Indrasis had 39 points in 49 games and was the bright spot on a dark team. Miks was loyal to his hometown team for years, but he finally broke this year and went to a different team with a better chance to win. They also lost their second leading point scorer, Martins Dzirkals who had 24 points in 52 games. He wasn’t the best, but he was their best winger. Another tough loss was JC Lipon who went on to play with HK Sochi. His physical presence and hard fought skill will be missed on that team, and that does cause the team to be much worse. Not to mention the loss of Denis Parshin who had 22 points in 44 games. He was Riga’s second line centre.

In the end, the team seemed like it got better with the additions, but once you take their losses into account, you suddenly realize that this team has not gotten better. It may even have gotten worse. This team will finish last and there is no avoiding it.

Key Additions: Frank Corrado, Lukas Radil, Sebastian Wannstrom

Big Losses: Miks Indrasis, Martins Dzierkals, JC Lipon

…

Unranked- Admiral Vladivostok

(Photo Credit: KHL)

Why is this team unranked? Well it’s simple. Admiral didn’t play last season because of budget cuts due to covid. The ownership decided not to risk losing so much money, especially since they’re a small market team. In past years Admiral has been in and out of the playoffs, but never a big name team with a bright future. They’re the Minnesota Wild of the KHL with some years where the playoffs were a no go. This year will be unpredictable for Admiral just because they didn’t play last year. I personally hope nothing but the best for them. Some of these players didn’t even play last year, and have had to go through some of the toughest training over the summer. I hope that this team turns some heads and doubts many people who expect them to be mediocre.

Key Additions: N/A

Big Losses: N/A

…

I can’t lie, I’m excited for the upcoming KHL season. The league has gained some really good hockey players and it’ll only make this league so much more interesting to watch. The surprise teams will come ahead and make this league so much more fun to watch and the suffering of bad teams will have the big name teams make even more money. The fact that ESPN has agreed to stream the KHL is amazing because it helps grow the game around the world way better, and the ability to scout all sorts of players is much more accessible to everyone. If you aren’t excited about the KHL season, you should be. The KHL is a fun league to watch, especially with all the amazing skill that they’ve piled up on.