Who has the best goaltenders in the KHL? Eastern Conference
Maxim Makarov August 1, 2024, 12:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
And once again the choice is in the hands of the dear readers of the “Championship”.
Today, August 1, the teams returned from their vacations and in a month they will step onto the ice to start the new KHL season. Yesterday we decided who has the best goalkeeping team in the West. We have not forgotten about the East. Today we will present you a ranking in which you can also independently sort teams according to your preferences.
Western Standings:
Classification
Who has the best goaltenders in the KHL? Western Conference
The rating depends entirely on the votes of the “Championship” readers and is formed online.
If you want to move an option up in the list, press the up arrow “ ↑. If you think the option should be lower, press the down arrow “↓”.
Important: The “Ranking” feature works only in the standard version of the “Championship”. If you came to this material through a search query, you will see only the generated list without voting buttons.
Rating: the best goalkeeping teams of the KHL Eastern Conference clubs
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov, photo.khl.ru
“Motorist”
Evgeny Alikin, Vladimir Galkin
Having escaped from the Far East, Evgeny Alikin only last season made his first career play-off appearance, helping Ekaterinburg win its first ever medals.
Alikin’s partner will remain Vladimir Galkin, who plays more and more matches every year, but he still cannot fully look behind the main goalkeeper, whoever that may be. There are still quite a few young goalkeepers in the Avtomobilista system, but they will only get opportunities in force majeure circumstances.
Photo: Dmitry Kulinich, photo.khl.ru
“Salavat Yulaev”
Alexander Samonov, Semyon Vyazovoy, Dmitry Braginsky
Samonov had an excellent regular season, which forced Ilya Yezhov to spend the last moments of his playing career on the bench. However, Alexander was unsuccessful in the playoffs, due to the injury he received.
Behind Samonov will be young Semyon Vyazovoy, who managed to get a chance to make his debut last season, and so far Semyon has not lost at the KHL level. Dmitry Braginsky’s prospects are still difficult to assess, as at 24 he has not yet played in the top league.
Photo: Svetlana Sadykova, photo.khl.ru
“Tractor”
Zach Fucale, Sergei Mylnikov, Vladislav Sukhachev
Fucale really caught the public’s attention during the last playoffs, when he sent Salavat and Dynamo on holiday, and also motivated his teammates in the locker room together with his friend German.
Sergei Mylnikov had a great chance to prove himself in the semi-finals with Lokomotiv, as Fucale ended the series and the season ahead of schedule, but the partners did not do their teammate any favors, leaving Sergei torn to shreds by Nikitin’s boys.
Photo: Yuri Kuzmin, foto.khl.ru
“AK Bars”
Timur Bilyalov, Amir Miftakhov, Maxim Arefiev
Ak Bars’ goalkeeping team has not changed for many years, although everything could have changed this off-season – negotiations with Bilyalov lasted a long time. It is Timur who should remain the main goalkeeper, as he proved last season, as Bilyalov was a ray of light in Kazan.
Miftakhov made a breakthrough in the penultimate season, but the last one returned him to his original position. Amir has the power to force a fight with his teammate during the contract year.
Photo: Yuri Kuzmin, foto.khl.ru
“Metallurgical”
Ilya Nabokov, Nikita Podskrebalin, Mikhail Smolin
One of the youngest teams in the KHL led Magnitogorsk to its third Gagarin Cup last season. One of the main reasons for this is Ilya Nabokov, who became the most valuable player of the playoffs.
It is not clear how the second season syndrome will affect Ilya. But there is someone to root for: Podskrebalin and Smolin, of course, are not boys, but they are not averse to taking a place in the sun.
Photo: Andrey Kholmov, photo.khl.ru
“Vanguard”
Mikhail Berdin, Pavel Khomchenko, Ilya Proskuryakov
After losing in the second round of the playoffs last season, Avangard’s management decided to strengthen the goalkeeping team with Mikhail Berdin, who, as a result of a three-way exchange, moved to Omsk.
His assistants will be Pavel Khomchenko, who became the main player in the second half of the regular season and showed good statistics, and one of the leading veterans of the league, Ilya Proskuryakov.
Photo: Dmitry Kulinich, photo.khl.ru
“Amur”
Igor Bobkov, Dmitri Lozebnikov, Victor Kobozev
After a successful last season, “Amur” kept its goalkeeping team and will start the season with Bobkov and Lozebnikov. Igor has many more badges, but this does not make him the main contender for the title of solid number one.
Dmitry played more than two games for the first time last season and played 24 games in total (including playoffs). Potentially, Lozebnikov is quite capable of becoming the number one in Khabarovsk.
Photo: Dmitry Loshkarev, photo.khl.ru
“Lada”
Vladislav Podyapolsky, Maxim Tretyak, Alexander Trushkov
After an unsuccessful trip to St. Petersburg, Podyapolsky revived his career in Togliatti, allowing the team to reach the playoffs in the first season after his return.
If the first number is pretty clear, the second is more difficult. Trushkov, who replaced Podyapolsky last year, and Maxim Tretyak, who moved from Sochi, will compete for this position.
Photo: Victoria Trufanova, foto.khl.ru
“Siberia”
Anton Krasotkin, Denis Kostin, Vladimir Tabatchikov
For the first time in many years, Novosibirsk found a starting Russian goalkeeper in Krasotkin, a position that was usually occupied by foreign players. Anton made a breakthrough last season, giving Sibir hopes for the playoffs, and also managed to go to the All-Star Game.
Last year, Denis Kostin fell out of favor with two coaches at once, one even said so publicly, but later apologized. If Kostin fails this year, then his career in the KHL will probably be over.
Photo: Ilya Smirnov, foto.khl.ru
“Barys”
Johan Mattsson, Nikita Boyarkin, Artyom Shestakov
Mattsson actually lost a whole year in St. Petersburg, which means there is no chance of him getting a contract for next year. But Johan did it: Astana believed in the Swede. Well, time will tell how last year will affect Mattsson.
If something happens, Barys has Nikita Boyarkin, who performed well at the last World Championships, especially in the match against the Swedes. Let’s not forget the fact that in Kazakhstan they try to rely on their own players.
Photo: Dmitry Soroka, foto.khl.ru
“Admiral”
Vasili Demchenko, Andrey Mishurov, Nikita Bogdanov
Vladivostok is still looking for its Nikita Serebryakov. Even though Ivanov and Demchenko did not seem like a burden, they did not reach the level of the current SKA goalkeeper.
Demchenko cannot be called the iron number one, because Andrei Mishurov can easily undermine the position of his more experienced colleague. In Avangard, Andrei did not catch stars from the sky, but the situation in Vladivostok is different: there is more load on the goalkeeper.
Photo: Yuri Kuzmin, foto.khl.ru
“Neftekhimik”
Philip Dolganov, Artyom Zagidulin, Yaroslav Ozolin
The way Dolganov broke into the KHL is admirable. When you don’t have a single game in the top Russian league at 25, that would ruin a lot of people. But Felipe persevered and immediately became the main man.
It will be interesting to see how the ever-promising Zagidulin, who is still looking for stability, will compete with Dolganov. We also have Yaroslav Ozolin in mind, who is capable of taking advantage of a small opportunity.
