Since the feedback was pretty nice last year I will do a season preview this year as well. Thanks to the KHL board for getting rid of some teams so this won't take so long
I will also take some time to pat myself on the back because even I was surprised how many of my predictions came true last year (Barys missing PO, Spartak and Severstal making it, etc.). The only team I really failed to crack last summer was Neftekhimik. Having said that, they are probably in for rude awakening this year. So here we go.
#1. SKA. Got slightly worse
The situation is rather similar to last year, SKA lost a few proven stars and replaced them with players who are undoubtedly good but unproven as far as the highest expectations go. Carrying Amur is a bit different when making a difference while playing 13 minutes for SKA. At the end of the day, my main worry would be 40 year-old Datsyuk and Prokhorkin as my 1-2 punch in the middle. That isn't great. Whatever you think about Shipachyov at this point to me, he is an amazing player and losing him stings. His direct replacement is Byvaltsev which just isn't nearly at the same level yet. Yakupov and Kruchinin to replace Shirokov and Kovy seem pretty adequate (considering you can't just go get another Kovy) but we will see how it works out. Also not a fan of having 3 head coaches behind 1 bench.
#2. CSKA. Got slightly worse
CSKA stayed the same at center, a lot of changes on the wing but they seem fairly adequate (Nichushkin, Petrov, Shumakov (for whom there are no takers so far) to Hansen, Slepyshev and Vey) but the one that stings is losing Kiselevich. CSKA did their best and got Dahlbeck to replace him but he is a different player and Kiselevich will indeed be missed. Ozhiganov left to the Leafs as well but he was terribly misused anyway so it won't be such a big loss.
#3. Jokerit. Got worse
The best case scenario for Jokerit would be if Tolvanen failed to make Nashville and came back. Surely a full season of having Steve Moses improves things but he isn't enough to replace the losses of both Tolvanen and Palola. It's a pretty big loss. AHL guy Alex Grant to replace Matt Gilroy is a cat in the bag addition as well. Overall, if Jokerit doesn't add and Tolvanen doesn't come back they are at least one quality player shy of what they were at the beginning of last season.
#4. Ak Bars. Got slightly worse
Ak Bars obviously felt pretty good about their team after winning the cup and keeping Azevedo or Garipov was a priority. They only really lost Glinkin (replaced by an arguably even better player in Padakin), Ohtamaa (somewhat replaced by Pedan) and Tokranov (whom they didn't feel they need to bother replacing, I guess). Now granted, Ak Bars is a team with a lot of young players who will grow, few old players who will decline and they will have Burmistrov for a full season so all in all, it wouldn't surprise me if they were even better than last year. However, their defense seems very young and unproven (only 2 guys over 25 y.o.) with the loss of a few solid players.
#5. Lokomotiv. Got worse?
Now lets get this out of the way - I am not a fan of Kudashov. The hockey his teams play is terrible. It's a shame so many good young players had to play in that system for so long. Having said that, Loko did lose some ok players like Mosalyov, Kadeykin or Lyubushkin. However, I'm pretty sure their young players are capable of replacing them and getting rid of some vets is overdue. They also got Sannikov to somewhat replace Kozun (even though they are different players so it's hardly a lateral replacement) and even more importantly, Salak and Desharnais are improvements in key positions. So on one hand, Loko obviously lost some name recognition but at the same time, I think they might have a better season than they did last year if the young guns deliver and Salak is what he can be.
#6. Traktor. Got worse
It's pretty ridiculous to lay down those verdicts how everyone is worse but at the same time, there is just no running away from it. First of all, losing a very successful head coach to SKA in an assistant role is just a sad reality of today's KHL. German Titov hasn't had any success in the KHL yet so I wouldn't expect him to elevate this team either. Also, Traktor lost arguably the best goalie in the league to the NHL and their best D to their direct opponent Avto and replaced them with Sudnitsyn (who is ok for 1B role) and.. well hmm nothing yet, really. Someone like Igor Isayev getting a bigger role. Lastly, Traktor did a good job finding replacements for their forwards: Alex Bergstrom is probably an upgrade over ancient Max Yakutsenya, as is Lapenkov over rapidly declining Igor Petrov. Old alumni Anton Glinkin was brought back to replace "stolen" Kruchinin (again, solid job) and Ryan Stoa is absolutely a proper replacement at Videll's spot. A lot of sympathy to this team for doing a decent job but this offseason definitely punched out a few holes.
#7. Avtomobilist. Finally, a team which got a lot better
Avto has massively improved for the 2nd year in a row and I'm really excited they gave this roster to a competent coach, there was nobody who did more with less than Andrei Martemyanov, his Amur played great hockey, played to its strengths, fantastically utilized its players and even if this is a coach with only 1 season of KHL experience he absolutely deserved a chance with a strong team like this. The fact that it is Avto rather than some powerhouse of the league will ease the transition as well. Now, regarding the roster, they had a very deep one as it is. Basically, the changes were 1) getting rid of the vets you are better off without (Megalinsky, Simakov, Kulyash, Mikhnov); 2) replacing imports who didn't work (King, Parenteau, Cajkovsky) with actual KHL stars. So joining are Dawes, Sexton, Da Costa (some serious potential to have the best line in the league here), Ivan Vishnevsky, Georgi Belousov and Vyacheslav Litovchenko. Huge upgrades in each and every case except for Mikhnov maybe who is still an ok player and Cajkovsky who is good but fills a specific role as an import while it is covered pretty well by Russian players on the roster.
#8. Magnitka. Got slightly better
Magnitka took a real hit last summer and has started recovering some of its former strength by getting the old band back together: Antipin and Bereglazov are back; with additions of Rylov and Vereshchagin the defense doesn't look like a rag-tag bunch it was a year ago. Offensively, it depends on how Dennis Rasmussen is able to replace Kovar. If he can click between Mozyakin and Wolski everything will be fine. Pakarinen and Kulyomin are solid depth even if I don't think they are some kind of game breakers. Varfolomeyev is really one guy who sticks out as a wildcard improvement as he is one of the best young forwards in the league and if he can find his space beneath the sun (unlike Shenfeld last year) Magnitka will have a deep, potent team. They do seem to lack depth at center though, star power on defense and their actual stars are getting older so don't expect a massive rise in the standings.
That's around 1/3 of the league, the rest will come in other parts in the upcoming days.
) where nothing comes of it and failed construction projects become a black hole.
They will make the playoffs. Comfortably." - Not. They missed the playoffs on the last day so my "laughable" assessment was spot on.
