During the opening of the NHL free agent market, Nashville made a serious attempt to go from a mediocre team, which the Predators have been for the past few seasons, to a potential Stanley Cup contender, or at least a team capable of reaching the playoffs beyond the second round.
Related materials
Is there a new force in the NHL? Nashville is the main sensation of the transfer market
There was also such a team in the KHL – Dynamo Minsk. Although the “Zubri” did not blow up the media space with high-profile transfers since the first days of the off-season, their recent transfer activity suggests that the capital of Belarus is going to make a bid for the best season in the club’s history in the league.
What stands out here, of course, is the exchange of Vadim Shipachev from Ak Bars. Someone, of course, can say that the 37-year-old striker has not been the same for a long time, but even in the “not that” state, he finished the previous season as the top scorer and assist man of the Kazan club, and in the current Dynamo squad he is two away from the scoring team. Only Sam Enas was ahead of the scoring team.
Shipachev is primarily a reinforcement for the regular season – Dynamo has not risen above seventh place in the Western Conference for many years, which primarily affects their first vacation. With such an experienced player in the lineup, who can help develop the same Vitaly Pinchuk, whose rapid progress last season was spoiled by injuries, the Belarusian club should have more chances to be in the table above the already known “bottom” of the cup. eight.
Another rather high-profile transfer is that of Dillon Dube. In Russia and Belarus, first of all, attention was drawn to his scandalous past: in his homeland, the forward, along with several other players of the “golden” Canadian youth team of 2018 (in which, by the way, Dube was the captain) was accused of rape, which forced him to take an indefinite leave from the NHL. Although after the stories with Galchenyuk, Miller and Ruzicka, recently transferred to Spartak, it seems that it is time to stop being surprised by the acquisitions of players with a dubious reputation.
The story of Ruzicka’s transition:
Another high-profile transfer to the KHL! A well-known Slovakian from the NHL will go to Spartak
But it is still worth talking about Dillon’s playing qualities, who before last season’s unfortunate season was steadily progressing in Calgary – the 2022/2023 regular season was the first in which he played all 82 games and even scored a record 45 (18+) 27) points. These are far from elite statistics, but players, even with such indicators, abroad in the KHL are an extremely rare commodity. In addition, Dube will turn 26 in a couple of weeks – he still has plenty of time to reach his potential, and in a place where he was given the opportunity to restart his career, this could well happen next season.
In Minsk, they can count on the Canadian’s good wrist and ability to be in the right place on time: Dube can complete the episode on his own, play well near the goal and also has no lack of field vision. A year ago, Lights fans were expecting a breakthrough from Dillon in the season that had already ended, but for him, like the rest of Calgary, things did not go well from the start, and then the scandal happened that left the hockey player out of the game until today.
By the way, what really happened there?
From the ice to prison? Five Canadian players accused of sex scandal
Overall, Dmitry Kvartalnov has a pretty good top 9 at his disposal: in addition to newcomers Shipachev and Dube, as well as existing players Enas, Fritz Volkov, Gorbunov and Pinchuk, the team will include Ilya Usov, who returned from abroad, who performed well in adult hockey several years ago, wearing the “Bison” jersey. If we add to this the progressive youth represented by Moroz and Sotishvili, we get a strong team that will be able to compete for the highest position in the regular season since 2017, when Dynamo finished in fifth place.
Of course, not without the help of the defence, which also became stronger: Christian Henkel returned to the team from his hometown and the great Brady Lyle (191/98) was signed. And two former NHL players, Xavier Ouellet and Jordan Gross, recognized as the best defenceman in the AHL in the 2021/2022 season, should be responsible for the creativity on the blue line. Overall, on paper the gang is quite good, although of course it is too early to say with certainty whether it will be able to prove itself in the KHL.
Jordan Gross
Photo: DARRYL DYCK/AP Photo/TASS
The only position in which the Minsk team is currently falling is the goalkeeper. Behind Andrey Kareev, who came from Spartak, there are two young goalkeepers whose total experience in the KHL amounts to only seven games. The Belarusian team still has time to strengthen the back line, especially since Minsk is unlikely to give up on its intention to return Alexei Kolosov at any convenient opportunity.
If Dynamo’s goalkeeping corps gets stronger, it will definitely be time to expect great progress from the “Zubrovs” in the upcoming season – even despite the defeat in the first round of the last playoffs, Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team proved that it has potential.
