Counterproposals: where Evgeny Kuznetsov will continue his career

The KHL teams have begun preparations for the new season and are simultaneously working to strengthen their squads. The main intrigue of recent weeks has been the issue of the employment of star striker Evgeny Kuznetsov. The day before, Novosibirsk Sibir and native Chelyabinsk Traktor had expressed interest in him. In addition, the long epic of forward Vasily Glotov's transfer to SKA St. Petersburg has been resolved.

Where will Kuznetsov play

The two-time world champion (2012, 2014) and Alexander Ovechkin's long-term partner in the Washington Capitals, who won the Stanley Cup with him in 2018, has been playing with fluctuations in recent seasons. This led to the fact that Kuznetsov could not stay in the NHL and returned to Russia two years ago.

He signed a four-year contract with SKA, but stayed in St. Petersburg for only one season. He played a number of exciting matches, but periodically dropped out of the squad due to injuries and the club's dissatisfaction with his physical form. Last spring, the agreement with him was terminated. Before last season, Evgeny did not find a team and only got into Metallurg Magnitogorsk during the regular season.

There, taking into account the requirements of head coach Andrey Razin in terms of speed and physical fitness, Kuznetsov also rarely went on the ice. As a result, in January he left Magnitogorsk and moved to Ufa Salavat Yulaev. There, the 35-year-old hockey player gained the trust of head coach Viktor Kozlov and had a bright ending to the regular season.

And in the playoffs, he made decisive assists in the sixth match of the first round series against Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (4:2) and helped the Bashkir club go further. But already in the second round, like the rest of the team, he could not do anything against the future Gagarin Cup winner Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (0:4).

Club without interest: more than 100 Russian hockey players remain without contracts

Why haven't Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vladimir Tarasenko and dozens of other famous players found new teams yet?

In the offseason, Salavat did not renew the contract with Kuznetsov. Just like last summer, the player and his agent Shumi Babayev were looking for options in the NHL. But it was not possible to find a club on the terms they were satisfied with. And in the KHL at the end of July, Siberia expressed interest in Evgeny.

This was publicly stated by the leadership of the Novosibirsk club and head coach Yaroslav Luzenkov. Soon, Traktor CEO Ivan Savin announced that the club was considering signing a contract with its pupil. Kuznetsov, a native of Chelyabinsk, played in the KHL in his hometown club in the early 2010s, where he reached the Gagarin Cup final in 2013.

In 2014, he left for the NHL, and 10 years later, after returning from overseas, the question of his transfer to the Chelyabinsk team was raised repeatedly. But it didn't work out. At first, Kuznetsov himself preferred SKA. And then the alleged general manager of Traktor, Alexei Volkov, believed that Evgeny did not fit the system of the game, which was instilled by the then head coach Benoit Groux.

Ivan Savin has now told RB Sport that Traktor has already offered Kuznetsov a contract. At the same time, the CEO stressed that this initiative was coordinated with Volkov and the new head coach of Chelyabinsk Scott Gordon. Meanwhile, Sibir also emphasizes that it is still interested in the star hockey player.

"Kuznetsov may well strengthen both Traktor and Siberia," Vladimir Krikunov, the former head coach of the Russian national team, told Izvestia. — Both clubs need such an extraordinary striker. Given the fact that there is a general shortage of forwards of this class on the market, it is not surprising that Evgeny is in demand in the KHL even after not the most even two seasons. It is clear that much will depend on his physical fitness. But if he approaches the season as ready as possible, he will help any team.

Glotov's return to SKA

Two years ago, the 28-year-old striker was one of the leaders of SKA, but at the end of 2024 he was traded to Traktor. Glotov reached the Gagarin Cup final there, but last season turned out to be average for him, as well as for the whole team. The Chelyabinsk team started rebuilding the squad and did not hide the fact that they could exchange Vasily.

As a result, he returned to St. Petersburg for the third time in his career. Moreover, with a completely different leadership and head coach. He used to be the club's leader under Roman Rotenberg. This time, Igor Larionov showed interest in him. The transition officially took place on July 1. Then SKA put an interesting statement on its website: "The SKA and Tractor systems have been exchanged."

At the same time, the transfer was not mentioned in the KHL and VHL transfer tables for a whole month. All this happened because of a non-trivial transaction scheme that SKA needed to fit into the salary cap. According to media reports, Glotov had a contract with Traktor until May 31, 2027 for 70 million rubles per season. Peter couldn't fit into the ceiling with such a salary.

"It takes luck to create something in eight minutes - I haven't had this for a long time"

Calgary forward Maxim Tsyplakov talks about his NHL season, transfer from New Jersey, and English

As a result, Vasily terminated the agreement with Traktor and signed up for his Chelmet farm club, which plays in the VHL. It was assumed that the termination amount in the second most important league would not be taken into account in the KHL, and SKA would sign the player for a lower salary.

As a result, he joined SKA-NAVY, the SKA farm club. And from there he moved to the main team. But his transfer was officially registered only on August 3. It is believed that the KHL did not register the deal for more than a month, as it saw a loophole in this to circumvent the ceiling. As a result, it is not known for certain on what terms the league gave the go-ahead for the transfer.

According to Sport-Express, SKA's total payroll before Glotov's signing already amounted to 929 million rubles. At the same time, the ceiling for the coming season is set at 950 million. The new contract with the St. Petersburg Army is for five years. According to him, Vasily will earn 25 million rubles in the first season, and about 64-65 million in the next.

It is also worth noting the return of striker Maxim Mamin to CSKA. The Army graduate played for this team in 2014-2025 with two breaks of one season each, when he left for the NHL to play for the Florida Panthers (2017-2018, 2021-2022). The 31-year-old hockey player won two Gagarin Cups with the Red and blue team. He spent last season at Dynamo Moscow. Another long-time CSKA player who won three Gagarin Cups with him, forward Sergei Kalinin, will now play for Dinamo Minsk.