Up to sixteen and beyond: the KHL has almost determined the participants of the playoffs

There is just over a month left until the end of the KHL regular season, but the intrigue in the fight for a playoff spot is almost dead. With a high probability we can name all 16 teams that will play in the Gagarin Cup in the spring. Nevertheless, within this group of participants continues to struggle for more favorable positions in the formation of pairings in the opening rounds. Meanwhile, a number of clubs made some high-profile personnel decisions. First of all, we're talking about the high-profile resignation of Dinamo Moscow's sports director Alexey Sopin and the extension of contracts with two of their leaders - Kirill Pilipenko and Danil Aymurzin - by Severstal Cherepovets.

Playoff Zone

At the moment, four teams have already officially secured a playoff spot. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was the first to do so. It is the only representative of the Western Conference that will definitely play in the elimination series. The second-ranked Dynamo Moscow is 12 points behind the Railroaders and must win at least three more times to formally eliminate their absence from the Western Conference's top eight.

Chelyabinsk's Traktor, Ufa's Salavat Yulaev and Ekaterinburg's Avtomobilist made it to the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Soon they will be joined by Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Ak Bars Kazan, who only need one point each.

Kazan could have done it much earlier, but they've been in a slump lately, losing four games in a row. At the same time, the club from the capital of Tatarstan, like Magnitogorsk, still has a chance to move Traktor out of first place in the conference - both clubs are eight points behind the East leader, but Ak Bars has played two fewer games, while the Ural club has played one less. Thus, the battle for the top line will be between the five teams for a long time to come.

And it won't be an empty formality, as each of them would like to finish the regular season in one of the first two spots and avoid first-round meetings with each other, as well as with sixth-ranked Avangard Omsk, which has fallen far behind the leading group due to a disappointing first half of the season, but in the last two months, with Canadian head coach Guy Boucher taking over, it looks like one of the strongest teams in the league in terms of play and results. And that's without their injured leaders - forward Vladimir Tkachev, who is recovering from a summer injury to the KHL's highest-paid player, and his partner in the first attacking trio, Reid Bouchette.

In the West, there's little to stop Lokomotiv from moving out of first place. But among its pursuers, the fight is intense. There are only four points between second-place Dynamo Moscow and sixth-place Severstal. Together with Spartak and CSKA Moscow, as well as SKA St. Petersburg, they will determine in the last month who will play against whom in the first round.

Dinamo Minsk is also capable of cutting into the distribution of places between them. It's six points behind SKA, which is in the top five, and has played two fewer games than St. Petersburg. That is, it has a good chance to drop them to seventh place. It's interesting that CSKA and SKA being next to low-budget Severstal a month before the regular season finishes is one of the biggest sensations of recent years. A couple or three years ago, it was hard to imagine that a modest provincial club would be on equal footing with the two rich Army teams over the long haul.

- "The density of the table in the playoff zone is very pleasing," former Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Traktor and Admiral forward Sergei Konkov told Izvestia. - When five teams in both conferences can swap places with each other after each game day, you don't see that every season. Yes, Lokomotiv has secured a safety margin in the West and is confidently in the lead. It's unlikely to lose first place in its conference, and maybe even in the entire championship. But even the Yaroslavl team has had difficulties lately - six losses in the last nine games. And we can't say unequivocally that they will win the next match. This is partly due to the injury of their main goalkeeper Daniil Isaev, which is still a problem. But in any case, you can see that no one in the KHL right now can win any of the games so easily.

Closing in on the playoff zone in the West is Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. It has fallen far behind the teams above it. But a recent four-game winning streak has almost made the Avtozavodians safe from the threat of not qualifying for the Gagarin Cup. In the first half of winter, they suffered a prolonged crisis, and as late as the end of January they were only three points ahead of their main rival Kunlun Red Star.

But the Chinese team, which plays its home games in Mytishchi, then made several misfires and failed to capitalize on the chance to push Torpedo out of the top eight. And last week it lost to Nizhny Novgorod at home in a face-to-face match (1:4). With 12 games to go, Kunlun is nine points behind its rival. Theoretically, there's still a chance to close the gap, but it's unlikely that the Torpedovs will systematically lose points and let the intrigue revive.

Last in the West, Vityaz from Balashikha and Sochi are 15 and 20 points behind the playoff zone, respectively. And they've almost lost the chance to claw their way into the top eight.

In the East, the situation is a little more complicated, but it's unlikely to change in the next month. Novosibirsk's Sibir and Vladivostok's Admiral are very close to triumph.

They are eight points clear of their nearest rival, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. The club from Tatarstan played an equal number of games with the Siberians and one less than the Far East team. Nizhnekamsk failed the past two months - in December and January they lost 15 out of 18 games. However, in February Oleg Leontiev's wards slightly improved - they have three wins in four games. And in the last two meetings they beat SKA (4:3) and Ak Bars (3:2) at home, being stronger not only in score but also in play - Neftekhimik had a very big advantage in shots on goal.

In the remainder of the regular season, they'll face Admiral in four face-to-face games, which is their last chance to clinch a playoff spot. Lada Togliatti isn't out of the woods yet - they're 12 points behind the Vladivostok club, having played one less game. But the club only recently snapped a 10-match losing streak, and it's clear that it hasn't been able to quickly recover from personnel changes in the form of uncertainty with new management, the parting of ways with its star goalkeeper Vladislav Podyapolsky, and other turbulence caused by the sweeping purges in professional sports in the Samara region in recent months by Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, known nationwide for his high-profile statements about corruption in Russian soccer. Khabarovsk's Amur and Astana's Barys have already forfeited even theoretical chances of making the playoffs.

- The fact that the intrigue in the fight for the playoffs is no longer so sharp, largely due to the selection of players and the quality of work of coaches, - said Sergei Konkov. - Still, the teams from the upper part of the table have better quality squads, and it has an impact. In addition, every year there are certain events within a number of clubs that do not allow them to jump above their heads. For example, nothing predicted that Amur would perform so poorly this season. The team had a decent roster, prepared by good coach Andrei Martemyanov - all of this led to high expectations. But as a result, the team has already lost even a formal playoff chance. And its defensive play especially leaves a lot to be desired - they concede the most goals in the East. With statistics like that, it's unrealistic to expect to make the playoffs. I expected more from Vityaz, but it didn't work out, even though they have a number of hockey players who show a high level of play. I think a lot of people expected Kunlun to compete with Torpedo in January after their six-game winning streak. But we couldn't let go of that grip - we had to keep fighting. The winning grip must be present throughout the championship. You can't win six games and lose six - it takes a moral toll. You have to hang on to the successful streak you've caught. That's why Kunlun has already missed its chance. Perhaps the intrigue will be between Neftekhimik and Admiral. Nizhnekamsk played well against SKA and Ak Bars, but they need to play at this level for the remaining 12 games. That's out of the realm of fantasy. Even if they manage to beat the current Admiral four times in head-to-head games, Neftekhimik will need to squeeze the most out of the remaining games, and Vladivostok will likely pick up the minimum points they need in the other meetings anyway.

Sopin's resignation

The resignation of Dynamo Moscow's sports director is one of the main events of February. Alexey Sopin worked in this position since the summer of 2021. Under him, the Bilo-Syni became one of the contenders for trophies. A year ago they won the regular championship of the KHL. In 2022, thanks to his efforts, the team avoided a slump amid budget cuts.

But, as Sport-Express has repeatedly written, Sopin and head coach Alexei Kudashov were constantly under pressure due to numerous intrigues from a number of hockey personalities close to Dynamo's management. The most frequently named was the club's former general director Andrei Safronov, whose reign in 2017 ended with multi-million dollar debts, bankruptcy of the organization and a change of legal entity. For the past year and a half, Safronov has been in charge of the Dynamo school.

Those who more or less know the situation inside Dynamo were surprised not by the fact of Sopin's departure, but by the fact that it happened on the eve of the playoffs. In an interview with Sport-Express, the club's former sporting director explained it by saying that he wanted to be honest with the club and give it the opportunity to conduct its transfer policy. The thing is that usually the main stage of staffing for the next season in the KHL takes place in late winter and early spring.

- Sopin has done a great job at the club, forming a great team," Sergey Konkov, a two-time Gagarin Cup winner with Dynamo, shared his opinion with Izvestia. - It's hard to say what prompted his decision to leave, but apparently there's no smoke without fire. Hopefully, it won't affect the team in the upcoming playoffs. After all, the entire roster for this season has been completed. But for next season it could lead to big changes in the roster and coaching staff. Sopin has been working in tandem with Kudashov all these years. They understood each other's requirements, they formed a great tandem. And now at the end of the season, different decisions can be made, who stays in the club, and who leaves it. And it will depend on the playoff results, where Dynamo always have very big ambitions.

Leaders of "Severstal"

For the second season, the Cherepovets club is one of the main discoveries of the league. Under its current head coach Andrei Kozyrev, Severstal plays bright, attacking hockey, mostly trying to please the public with subtle combinations rather than tactical schemes and power play style. The team doesn't stray from this line even in games against stronger opponents. That doesn't prevent it from fighting them on equal terms and even winning. For example, the Cherepovians have a series of beautiful victories - in particular, in January they defeated SKA 7-4 on the road and beat CSKA (4-3). And their 8:6 home success against Spartak was one of the brightest episodes of the entire season.

Not surprisingly, Kozyrev's January announcement that he had agreed in principle with the club to extend his contract became a significant event of the winter. But beyond that, Severstal was still dealing with the issue of retaining its leaders. Forwards Danil Aymurzin and Kirill Pilipenko are among the top five snipers of the season. They have scored 28 and 26 pucks, respectively.

- Two leaders of the team have been extended - this is a great help for stable results, - said Konkov. - On personnel issues, Severstal has solved its questions. Given its small budget, it made a great investment in the future. Thanks to these hockey players and head coach Andrei Kozyrev, Cherepovets has already had a distinctive team for two seasons. And now it can continue its systematic development.

Also worth noting is Traktor's signing of forward Vasily Glotov, who was traded from SKA in December, where he was one of the leaders.