Over the next few weeks, Last Word on Sports will be previewing the new Kontinental Hockey League season ahead of the season opener on August 24, which will pit SKA Saint Petersburg against CSKA Moskva. Today, we will look at the Tarasov Division of the Western Conference. Part 2 of our four-part KHL season preview.
2015/16 KHL Season Preview: Tarasov Division
CSKA Moskva
After last season’s Gagarin Cup semifinal meltdown, blowing a 3-0 series lead to SKA St. Petersburg, the 2015 Continental Cup holders have unfinished business. Out is underachiever Nikolai Prokhorkin, backup goalie Kevin Lalande, and star forward Igor Grigorenko. In is 2014-15’s breakout star Dmitry Kugryshev, defenders Igor Ozhiganov Alexander Kutuzov, two-time Gagarin Cup winner Mikhail Yunkov, and NHL addition Viktor Fasth. Kugryshev joins Alex Radulov and Stephane Da Costa to bolster a world-class attack, while Kutuzov and Ozhiganov step into a solid blueline alongside Nikita Zaitsev and Bogdan Kiselevich. With these new assets, and one of the best goalies in the KHL in Stanislav Galimov, CSKA are once again in a class of their own. Failure this season is not an option for Dmitry Kvartalnov’s side.
Dynamo Moskva
It’s been an off-season of change for the mighty blue and white. The team is moving from the Luzhniki Minor Sports Arena to the shiny new VTB Ice Palace, and long-timers Janne Jalasvaara, Sergei Soin, and Denis Mosalyov were let go. Coming in are dynamic Finnish defender Juuso Hietanen, former Kuznya standout Ansel Galimov, and perhaps most interesting, San Jose Sharks youngster Daniil Tarasov, who made his NHL debut last season. With three standout goalies in Alexander Lazushin, Alexander Sharychenkov, and Alexander Yeryomenko, the team’s goaltending should be steady. But who will replace Jalasvaara (who replaced Leo Komarov) as the team’s chief pest? Someone will need to step up and provide power in motion for the club if they are to get back among the KHL’s elite.
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Perhaps no team has had more change this off-season than Loko. Starting goalie Curtis Sanford retired, star forward Sergei Plotnikov left for the NHL, and top defender Yegor Yakovlev left for SKA. So how does the team replace them? Patrik Hersley, Mikhail Grigoryev, and Pavel Koledov replace quality in Yakovlev with both quality and quantity, while Alexei Murygin looks to be the heir to Sanford’s throne. Up top, the team compensates for the loss of Plotnikov with the additions of Jonas Enlund, Denis Mosalyov, and the return of Dmitry Maltsev, who tallied a hat trick in his first preseason game. With all these changes, can new head coach Alexei Kudashov put it together and make Lokomotiv into an elite KHL club?
Severstal Cherepovets
An influx of funding did Severstal a world of good this off-season. While Lokomotiv, SKA, and Salavat Yulaev got the headlines, Severstal quietly built a world-class defense to help out goalie Jakub Stepanek. Though they lost promising defender Zakhar Arzamastsev and cut disappointing Swedes Alexander Urbom and Adam Almqvist, the team managed to land Ondrej Nemec, Miroslav Blatak, and Mattias Karlsson to bolster the blueline, and took a gamble on injury-prone former All-Star Igor Skorokhodov to boost the attack. The team also managed to retain top scorer Dmitry Kagralitsky for another 2 years, and Rangers prospect and young star Pavel Buchnevich for another year. Vaclav Sykora’s side has done a terrific job this off-season, and now it’s time to see if he can reap the rewards of a busy off-season and bring the team back to the playoffs.
Sochi
The sunny beaches of the Black Sea pulled in a number of new players for the Leopards this season. Though the team lost Andrei Kostitsyn and has still yet to re-sign Mikhail Anisin at the time of this writing, Sochi bolstered the blueline with super-pest Janne Jalasvaara and former All-Star Renat Mamashev. The team also managed to snag reclamation project Nikolai Zherdev and Ben Maxwell to help boost the attack, and the team finally has a solid number one goalkeeper in Konstantin Barulin. Veterans Mikhail Yakubov and Konstantin Koltsov look to provide leadership and another playoff berth to the Krasnodar Krai this year.
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
It’s been a roller coaster off-season for Peteris Skudra’s side. It looked to be lost early, with their entire top line of Jarkko Immonen, Sakari Salminen, and Wojtek Wolski gone, as well as goalkeeper Ivan Kasutin and perhaps most importantly defensive general Juuso Hietanen. However, Torpedo knew what they were doing. In came the Kostitsyn brothers, Dmitry Syomin, Carter Ashton, and a pair of Swedes in Linus Videll and Carl Klingberg to provide a jolt of offense. Veteran Oleg Piganovich was brought in to bolster the blueline, and former All-Star Ivan Lisutin looks to replace Kasutin in goal, competing with another ex-All-Star in Mikhail Biryukov. The defense may be a bit concerning in terms of quality, but Torpedo should have enough firepower and good enough goalkeeping to make it three years in a row of reaching the playoffs.
Vityaz Podolsk
The memories of being the punch line of world hockey with their WWE-style fights continue to fade, but Vityaz still couldn’t crack the playoffs last season, keeping them as one of two teams to never make a KHL playoff. This season could change it. Harri Sateri looks to build on an up-and-down first season in goal, and the team brought in Ilya Shinkevich and Teemu Eronen to pick up the slack on a defense that conceded 186 goals last season. Olli Palola was also brought in to help bolster the attack, joining captain Vyacheslav Solodukhin, power forward Roman Horak, Swedish forward Mario Kempe, and Alexander Kucheryavenko on an intriguing attack. The talent is there; will Vityaz finally end its days as a laughingstock and crack the KHL playoffs for the first time ever?
Next week, we’ll take a look at the Chernyshev Division, home of Gagarin Cup runners-up Ak Bars Kazan, who look to make a return trip to the final.
Main Photo:
SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA – OCTOBER 16: Alexander Radulov (C) of CSKA Moscow in action during the Continental Ice Hockey League ice hockey match between SKA St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow on October 16, 2014 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Photo by Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
