What is wrong with Spartak? They have money, they have good squad IMHO but they are on the way to lost play-off spot. I was hoping for more this season.
Spartak's relative struggles aren't that surprising, honestly. The defensive squad is legitimately very not good, let's put it that way and has been hampered by injuries all year long making it even weaker. Under those circumstances, Hudacek becomes the only goalie who can make enough saves to give the team even a fighting chance, nevermind the wins. Playing Hudacek compromises scoring depth which relies heavily on imports. The collection of old guys (which Znarok teams are known for liking/carrying) were all given/projected bigger roles than they can handle (Bespalov, Zubarev, Kuteikin, Rylov, Zubov) and here we are.
Some of it is bad luck and hindsight, of course, but most of it they have brought it upon themselves. Nobody would have looked at that defensive squad before the season and thought "yeah, this is good good". One could have hoped it will be good enough if all their veterans performed at their best but what were the chances? Zubarev hasn't had a real season/responsibilities for 3 years, Kuteikin is 36 and was injured for 1/3 of the season last year already and Rylov just reverted to his usual self after miracle season last year.