Almost everyone knew that SKA acquired Mikhail Grigorenko and Sergei Plotnikov at the end of April. However, the St. Petersburg club could not announce these contracts, as it could not register them due to exceeding the maximum limit. The league now calculates the cap as of May 1, and the exciting game of “get 900 million at any price” began from the first days of the offseason. Today these transfers became official and because of them SKA had to renew a couple more contracts.
This offseason is the best time to take stock of last summer’s hectic activity, when SKA was equally generous with money and signed long-term contracts. A list of all incoming team transfers, including player rights, occupies two computer screens at Elitprospekt. At the same time, many of the notable figures have already left the team: Kadeikin, Galchenyuk, Laipsik, who was urgently given a Russian passport, Mattsson and Sergeev. In terms of “price-quality”, the best season was had by Vladimir Alistrov, who in the first half of the season was the only one who did not allow the team to become completely bitter, and in the second half Arseniy Gritsyuk also got involved.
How Galchenyuk left for the Far East:
Strong transfer to the KHL! “Amur” got the SKA star
In a purely ideological sense, SKA attempted to move away from heavy equipment that depended on active pressure and a high launch load, towards light, high-speed equipment a la Torpedo (Severstal and Spartak did not yet exist in their current form). However, this attempt failed, and at some point since the end of last fall, the St. Petersburg team again returned to the style that helped it dominate the 2022/2023 regular season, and thanks to this it almost won this soft season, stumbling in the last moment.
In the NHL, early seeds who get eliminated often make the same mistakes their opponents made to win, and depending on this, teams may look for bigger players or tough veterans for the locker room. Publicly, SKA started a dispute over refereeing and even involved Dominik Hasek, but privately the big guns went to Nikita Serebryakov, whose playoff performance they were supposedly dissatisfied with.
SKA series – “Avtomobilista”
Photo: photo.khl.ru
Indicative here is the statement of one of the most active SKA veterans in the public space, Sergei Cherkas, who really conveys the club’s position: “Avtomobilist” scored after open shots, and in the other half of the field the goalkeeper stopped the same shots, what kind of tactic is that? Furthermore, this quote appeared in the press on May 3, when SKA had already finished the season a long time ago and were crowned champions. Despite these claims and rumors on Telegram channels, the goalkeeper remains at SKA, but there is a feeling that this is “for now.” Artemy Pleshkov, after setting world records in the VHL, showed himself excellently on the grand tour “Russia 25”.
But why did SKA lose to Avto? It’s difficult to talk about implementation: we saw Carolina’s version of Kahael, who was confused by the quantity of shots instead of their quality. The defensive corps, without the injured Alexander Nikishin, did not delegate defenders who could disperse the attacks: mostly the role of main defender was occupied for some time by Sergeev, who plays a different style for most of his career. Unlike Magnitogorsk, the SKA forwards could not confuse the Avtomobilist defenders with creative and non-standard solutions, and in a positional attack, all the decisions of the St. Petersburg team were easy to read.
In this sense, the return of Nikita Zaitsev from the NHL seems logical: there was a feeling that he would go to the club from which he came to Toronto, but CSKA is now plagued with transfer problems. We have already forgotten that Nikita went to America as an offensive defenseman, in his first season in Toronto he played an average of two minutes on the power play per game and gave 32 assists. However, soon Mike Babcock’s staff decided to make Zaitsev a homebody and problems began in the player’s family, and the combination of these two factors ended the hockey player’s career in the NHL. Of course, de jure there is no such contract, but Roman Rotenberg said everything clearly.
But the transitions of Grigorenko and Plotnikov are quite surprising. This seems to be Lokomotiv’s way: after the defeats against CSKA, they take the players who forged the champion CSKA, but few of the newcomers to Yaroslavl maintained their previous level of play. And here we need a very simple thought experiment: imagine that Grigorenko and Plotnikov would be on the SKA roster in the spring instead of one of the players who left the team. Would they have given Rotenberg’s team the qualities it ultimately lacked in the second round? There are doubts.
Sergei Plotnikov already played for SKA
Photo: photo.khl.ru
Furthermore, these transfers raise the average age of the team. A couple of years ago it was said that SKA is a young team, but at the same time it is very difficult for young people to break through the rotation sieve. It seems Michkov is leaving for the NHL after all, having spent only 17 games with the SKA team in three years, and even with little playing time. Dmitry Buchelnikov, who performed well on loan, will go on another loan, if rumors are to be believed. Contender for the second pick in the draft, Ivan Demidov, spent most of the season in the MHL, the level of which he had clearly surpassed. All of this happens against the backdrop of Metallurg, who won the Cup largely thanks to their fast, hungry youth.
What’s wrong with Michkov?
“Rotenberg has personal problems with him.” Moving to the NHL is the only option for Michkov
But it is quite possible that SKA is not done with transfers: rumors spoke of a very solid offer to Alexander Barabanov, who could return to Russia from the NHL. At the same time, according to SE, the St. Petersburg team is now only 12 million below the maximum limit, and this is after the upcoming renewal of contracts with the leaders. The “send everyone to a partner club” option after the new KHL restrictions won’t work as well, and more roster cuts will hurt more.
Overall, there is no sense that SKA is now chasing Kakhael’s fad for speed and youth. Last year’s attempt to fit into this race failed, now the club will polish the concept that brought points in a quiet season. But, of course, the problem with the St. Petersburg club is not only in the names, but at least in how kaleidoscopically they change. No one can be sure that their five-year contract will be fulfilled in full and will not be affected by a new change of concept, and there is a feeling that this influences the mood of the players themselves.
