Until February 2022, the most important foreign quota was for KHL clubs with a medium or even lower budget. “Sibir”, “Torpedo” and “Vityaz” could afford the luxury of leading players from the World Cup or Olympic teams without NHL players. The mass exodus of European players and political instability put an end to these plans: at some point, players from the ECHL level were ready to go to the KHL.
For a year and a half, the question “three or five” was one of the main ones in our hockey, but the needle has gone up again. However, for now, most clubs have not filled their vacancies; of course, the fact that the NHL market has only just opened and many candidates are still considering options in the United States also plays a role. Three clubs have already filled their spots; unsurprisingly, these are teams for which good foreign players have always been a matter of life or death in the tournament.
“Admiral”
h. Mario Grmán, D. Libor Shulak, n. Jack Rodewald, b. Giovanni Fiore, b. austin ortega
The first newcomer for the Mariners was Slovakian defender Grman, who managed to spend one season with Slovan and played for their team in five World Cups and Olympic qualification. The player’s agent explained very simply why Mario went to the Far East: “I wanted to play in the KHL because it is the best league after the NHL and, besides, you can earn more money here than in Europe.”
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According to SE, Grman is owed 25 million rubles in the new season – in continental Europe it is impossible for a stay-at-home defender to earn that much. Given the reduced cap, it made no sense to bring such a player to Russia, and now Grman, who averages one point every 10 games, should follow the path of Colby Williams. Two years ago, this stay-at-home Canadian covered the rearguard for Libor Shulak, who was the Mariners’ key creative force and has now returned after an unsuccessful business trip to Omsk.
Mario Grman
Photo: Xavier Laine/Getty Images
A year ago, Leonid Tambiev said: “I had such a list of AHL players! These were top-level hockey players! But they don’t go, those bastards!” A year has passed, and the Admiral’s attacking trio is no surprise. The contract with Fiore, the best sniper of last season, has been extended: a year ago, Tambiev said that he and Tyler Graovac were the “right” players. The experiment with the center general failed, and now the Admiral is taking another tall Canadian, Rodewald, who reached the KHL semi-finals, but in the lineup with Kotlyarevsky and Robinson, he was rather left in the background.
The Admiral’s most intriguing signing is American Austin Ortega. What’s confusing about his signing is that he failed to finish seasons in either the Swedish or Finnish leagues, and spent most of his career in Germany, where he scored a point per game on a couple of occasions. Ortega is a sharpshooter and a technician, powerfully built (173/80), but will he show his skills against the highest level of opposition in the KHL?
“Amur”
north. Jan Drozg, b. Arnaud Durandot, b. Alex Broadhurst, b. Alex Galchenyuk, b. Devin Brosseau
“Amur” is considered one of the winners of the off-season. Last year in Khabarovsk they put a lot of money on the table for players who were already leaving the fair, but now, despite the rumors, they did not pay attention to the veterans, who already found it difficult to endure constant air travel. First of all, in Khabarovsk they renewed their contract with Broadhurst: the unlucky American missed two-thirds of the season due to injuries and illness, but after his return he immediately revived the second line of the Tigers. One of the few active players of Kakhael, Drozg, also remained in the team and showed himself brilliantly in the playoffs.
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In addition, the Tigers took two players from other KHL teams. Devin Brosseau once came to Kunlun on a trial contract after a mediocre game in the AHL. While many “Chinese” in Mytishchi are having fun, Brosseau worked smartly, becoming the team’s best sniper and scorer (23 goals); “Amur”, with its terrible performance last year, needs snipers. Well, Galchenyuk’s transition is terra incognita. 42 points for a forward who looked like a potential league star before the season is a controversial result. On the other hand, in Khabarovsk, unlike St. Petersburg, they prefer stable links to an endless rotation machine.
Devin Brosseau
Photo: Ilya Smirnov, foto.khl.ru
Finally, the most mysterious among the Legionnaires is 25-year-old Durando. The Islanders prospect was called up to the lineup for four games last year after a successful season on the farm. Arnaud didn’t score any points, but he received good press, which praised him for bringing a lot of energy to the team’s game and earning himself a couple of penalties. In the preseason, Durando was even entrusted with a place on a line with Mathew Barzal. Admittedly, last year was a bad one for the forward – he managed to play for three AHL clubs – but if he continues to play in the style for which he was praised, he will fit into Amur’s aggressive style.
“Gentleman”
h. Jeremy Roy, D. Dean Stewart, n. Nicholas Baptiste, b. Derek Barak, b. Frederic Gautier
Igor Varitsky has rightly earned a reputation as a coach who brings foreign players to the KHL who become stars of our league, and in most cases they are not obvious candidates. Of course, not 100% of Vityaz’s purchases hit the mark, but this is impossible with the club’s resources, and the success stories of Miro Aaltonen, Niko Ojamaki or Justin Danforth shine much brighter than the failures. Therefore, any newcomer to Vityaz is intriguing, even taking into account the fact that the selection possibilities have been significantly reduced.
The most famous player on the rookie list is Gauthier. The center of heroic dimensions (196/108) was selected in the first round of the draft and played 178 games in the NHL. True, almost all of these games were played on the fourth line with minimal playing time, and after Mike Babcock left Toronto, Gauthier’s star immediately fell. Neither in the AHL nor in the Swiss league did Gauthier even score 0.5 points per game. History has shown that coaches from the first echelons of the AHL, who did not make it to the NHL due to their size, take root better in the KHL than simple two-meter fighters from below.
Frederic Gautier
Photo: Zuma/TASS
Baptist managed to play fifty games with Buffalo, but the move to Nashville ended the forward’s NBA career, and after a couple of unsuccessful seasons in the AHL, he left for Europe. At Tappar last year, he was crowned champion of Finland, and it’s confusing that he played on the fourth line there, making way for players you’d never heard of. On the other hand, the same Ojamaki also arrived in Russia after a disastrous season in Sweden. The most obscure newcomer to Vityaz (and potentially the KHL as a whole) is Stewart, who was not always included in Winnipeg’s farm team. “Two-way defender, I play well in my zone,” Stewart, who stood out in the draft for his good skating, described himself.
Ultimately, two of last year’s three foreigners remained in the team. This was unlikely to prevent Scott Wilson from moving to Magnitka, but the club retained Roy, who had already established himself as one of the best offensive defensemen in the KHL. Barak completely failed in the first half of last season, when Vityaz was plagued by injuries and a lack of quality players, but a successful second half of the regular season allowed him to retain his place in the team.
