Several Teams Showing Interest In Vitali Pinchuk
March 11, 2026: Fast-forward to nearly the end of the KHL’s regular season, and Pinchuk’s output has only improved throughout the year. He’s now up to 30 goals and 62 points in 61 games for Minsk. Now, Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports that virtually every team in the league – 29 of them, to be exact – has reached out to Pinchuk’s camp to try to get him landed on an entry-level deal.
Nov. 6, 2025: There are still several months to go until the end of the regular season, when the international free agent market begins to pick up. Nonetheless, European leagues start their seasons earlier than the NHL, meaning sample sizes are large enough by the time November rolls around for teams to begin to identify breakout targets.
One of those names to keep an eye out for is Belarusian center Vitali Pinchuk, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. “Several teams” have made contact with his representation as he mulls a jump to North America following the conclusion of his season with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he’s spent the vast majority of his professional career.
Pinchuk, 23, isn’t a total stranger to North American hockey. He was initially draft eligible in 2020 and spent that season in the Ontario Hockey League in hopes of boosting his chances of being picked. The 6’3″, 203-lb pivot recorded 13 goals and 34 points in 54 games with a -12 rating, but wasn’t picked. When the OHL closed its doors for the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic, Pinchuk returned to Belarus, where he has remained ever since.
He made his KHL debut for Dinamo the following year. He was a fixture of Belarus’ teams at the World Juniors until the country was banned from international competition by the IIHF for its part in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – in fact, he was named the country’s top young player in 2021. His development has been a slow burn, but he had his first meaningful breakthrough in the 2023-24 season. After posting limited point totals in bottom-six jobs over the previous few years and struggling to stay in the lineup, he worked his way into a top-nine job with Dinamo with nine goals and 22 points in 43 games.
It was last season that Pinchuk began to take on star status in the KHL. Dinamo’s 39-21-8 record last season was its best in eight years, and Pinchuk finished second on the club with 25 goals and fifth with 43 points in 66 games. This season, the club is off to a torrid 13-5-3 start with Pinchuk clicking at a point per game, logging a 9-12–21 scoring line through 21 contests.
A point-per-game season in the more offensively conservative KHL is no small feat. Only three players hit the mark last season after seven achieved it in 2023-24. Keeping up that pace will be challenging for Pinchuk, but even still, he’s one of only 13 names with at least five games played at this point in the year to be at or above the mark.
Pinchuk turns 24 in January, so that will be his signing age if he inks an NHL contract next summer. That limits him to landing a one-year, entry-level contract that would make him a restricted free agent in 2027.
Predators’ Semyon Chistyakov Signs One-Year Extension In KHL
KHL defenseman Semyon Chistyakov, whose NHL rights are held by the Nashville Predators, has signed a one-year contract extension with his current club, Avangard Omsk.
Chistyakov signed a two-year extension in June that runs until the end of the KHL’s 2026-27 season, and now today’s news means he’ll be under contract through 2027-28.
Avangard GM Alexei Sopin called the 24-year-old blueliner “a key figure not only for the club but for the entire city,” and named him as a core part of the team’s roster. Avangard currently sit in second place in the KHL’s Eastern Conference, and the team’s near-term competitiveness likely heightened the level of urgency the club felt in its efforts to sign Chistyakov to an early extension.
The move is relevant from an NHL perspective, as it pushes back the date that the Predators could sign Chistyakov by another year. According to PuckPedia, the club maintains an indefinite exclusive right to sign Chistyakov.
While it’s never a guarantee how a player might translate his game from the KHL to the NHL, Chistyakov offers many valuable on-ice qualities that lend confidence to the idea that he could be a capable NHL defenseman. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranked Chistyakov the No. 14 prospect in Nashville’s system back in 2023, calling the player “an excellent skater who is physical and competes at a high level,” while also raising some questions about his size. Chistyakov is a well-regarded prospect dating back to his draft year, when he was ranked the No. 16 international skater by NHL Central Scouting.
Over the last two years, Chistyakov has become one of the KHL’s better defensemen, further lending credibility to the idea of those public-facing scouts that he could be a useful NHL player. Chistyakov, who is listed at 5’11”, 198 pounds, enjoyed a breakout 2024-25 campaign. He led the KHL in goal scoring by a defenseman with 19 tallies, and finished with 40 points in 68 games. He was an all-star that year, and even scored seven points in 13 playoff games.
While Chistyakov’s production is down this season (he has five goals, 21 points in 54 games), as is his ice time (he’s averaging 18:35 per game in 2025-26 compared to over 20 minutes per night last season), he remains a prospect who could provide legitimate value to an organization if he crosses the Atlantic. Despite his offense declining, he remains a contributor on Omsk’s penalty kill, for example.
Unfortunately for Nashville, Chistyakov’s recent extension signing pushes back the date he could join Nashville/Milwaukee by at least another year.
Snapshots: Schneider, Gibson, Lajoie
New York Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider is one of the top trade assets the Rangers have at their disposal in advance of the deadline next week. According to The Athletic’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano, “Schneider being traded feels like a 50-50 proposition,” and Rangers GM Chris Drury is reportedly “content” to retain Schneider if no team is willing to meet the high asking price he has set.
According to Mercogliano, the Rangers’ preference in any Schneider deal is a “hockey trade,” meaning they’re looking for younger players who are NHL-ready or at least very close to being NHL-ready. That falls in line with how the Rangers have framed their current team direction, being that of a “re-tool” rather than a full-scale rebuild. Whether the Rangers will be able to receive the kind of offers for Schneider that they’re looking for is still unclear. It would not be a huge surprise to see New York receive considerable interest in Schneider, of course, given his age, positional value and what he has accomplished as an NHL player thus far.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Former New York Islanders goalie Christopher Gibson has signed in the DEL, joining the Schwenninger Wild Wings of Germany’s top pro league. The former Islanders goalie has 16 NHL games on his resume and has played in 244 career AHL games. He was last in North America in 2022-23 when he got into 20 games for the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds, and has bounced between several European teams. So far in 2025-26, he has played in four games for Italian club HC Bolzano of the ICEHL, posting an .879 save percentage and 1-3 record.
- Defenseman Maxime Lajoie, a former member of the Ottawa Senators, signed a one-year contract extension with KHL club Avangard Omsk. The team’s official statement called Lajoie an “indispensable part” of the team’s defense, something that is underscored by his 37 points in 60 games this season. Like Gibson, Lajoie also last played in North America as a member of the AHL Firebirds. In 2024-25, Lajoie scored 38 points in 70 games for Coachella. He has played in the NHL most recently in 2023-24, with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jordan Weal Signs Two-Year Extension In KHL
Former Philadelphia Flyers center Jordan Weal won’t be leaving Russia any time soon. He has signed a two-year extension with the KHL’s Moscow Dynamo per a league announcement. Weal moved to the KHL for the 2021-22 season and joined Dynamo the year after.
Weal’s international move has proven fruitful. His tenure in Moscow started with 14 goals and 43 points scored in 62 games of the 2022-23 season. That performance was a strong step up from Weal’s 30 points in 36 games with Kazan Ak-Bars in his first season in Russia – but it was no match for what would come. Weal broke out with 30 goals and 77 points in 66 games of the 2023-24 season. He finished fourth in the KHL in scoring behind fellow former-NHL players Nikita Gusev, Reid Boucher, and Nikolay Goldobin.
Weal’s scoring has followed the flow of the KHL – dipping over the last few seasons after a year of explosive offense. He followed his breakout year with 51 points in 66 games last year. He is on pace to beat that mark so far this season, with 12 goals and a team-leading 46 points in 57 games so far. Those marks have kept Weal locked into a top-six role on a nightly basis, even as his scoring totals have fallen back to Earth.
Dynamo will now lock Weal into that spot through the next two seasons. The 33-year-old will serve as reliable, veteran depth as Moscow looks to promote rising prospects Mikhail Melikov, Artyom Bondar, and Maxim Ilyin to the pro flight. The club currently ranks sixth in the KHL’s Western Conference, four points ahead of playoff contention.
Joshua Ho-Sang Signs In Russia
Feb. 10: Ho-Sang was released from his contract today without ever playing a game for the club, the league announced.
Dec. 30: Former Islanders first-rounder Joshua Ho-Sang is attempting to restart his professional career. Salavat Yulaev Ufa of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League has signed him to a two-way deal through the end of the season, the league announced.
Ho-Sang, once viewed as New York’s top prospect following his selection at 28th overall in 2014, has appeared in just 18 regular-season games over the last three years. He suited up once for Salavat in 2022-23, recording an assist, before spending the last two years on and off duty with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. He racked up 19 points in 17 games with the Everblades and led the Kelly Cup Playoffs in assists in 2024, proving he can still be a top-flight contributor in a lower-tier pro league.
Now 29, Ho-Sang only ever got into 53 NHL games with the Isles, scoring seven goals and 24 points, with his final appearance coming in December 2018. He’s since spent time in the minors in the Maple Leafs’ system as well as stints in Sweden during the 2020-21 campaign.
Ho-Sang contemplated retirement following his short stint with Salavat last time around. They’re now bringing him in off another lengthy bout without a contract to suit up alongside Canadiens 2025 first-rounder Alexander Zharovsky, who leads the club in scoring with 28 points in 32 games.
KHL Notes: Kostin, Wilson, Loktionov, Kisakov
Today was the KHL’s deadline for both trades and free-agent moves, leading to a flurry of activity. Among the notable moves included CSKA Moscow acquiring former first-round pick Klim Kostin from Avangard Omsk.
Kostin, 26, headed back home last summer after being non-tendered by the Sharks. San Jose was his fourth NHL stop after being selected 31st overall by the Blues in 2017, coming after short stints with the Oilers and Red Wings. He only got into 35 games last year and was limited to a goal and seven points, so letting him go in exchange for more roster flexibility was a no-brainer move for San Jose.
Unfortunately for Kostin, his fortunes haven’t changed back in Russia. Drafted as a potential top-nine power forward, his offense simply never developed where it needed to. He was likely hoping a drop in competition against KHL talent compared to NHL players would boost his numbers, but he’s only managed two assists and a -7 rating in 21 outings for Avangard this year.
More out of Russia’s top league:
- Former NHLers Andrei Loktionov and Scott Wilson were swapped for each other, with the former headed from SKA St. Petersburg to Sibir Novosibirsk while Wilson heads to SKA. Both have Stanley Cup rings in depth roles, Loktionov’s coming with the Kings in 2012 and Wilson with the Penguins in 2017. The former is now 35 years old, and while he’d remained a productive piece late into his career, he’s been deeply affected by decline this season and has just one goal in 34 games for SKA. Wilson, who last played in North America in 2022 and is in his fourth KHL season, has 10 goals and 18 points in 43 outings.
- Ex-Sabres prospect Alexander Kisakov is also on the move, going from Dynamo Moscow to Traktor Chelyabinsk in exchange for cash. A second-rounder in 2021, he had just 14 goals and 25 points in 93 games for AHL Rochester before being non-tendered last summer. His return home hasn’t gone well, either. He had just one goal in 17 showings for Dynamo and has even spent some time in the second-tier VHL, where he’s expected to remain with Chelyabinsk’s affiliate, Chelmet.
Evening Notes: Abols, Igram, Love
The Philadelphia Flyers could soon receive bad news about a scary-looking injury. Center Rodrigo Abols needed helped off the ice after his right-foot went into the boards awkwardly during Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers. Head coach Rick Tocchet provided little update after the game, except to say that the injury was “not good” per Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Abols was on Latvia’s official roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics, set to begin in roughly one month. He has represented Latvia at Olympic events in 2017, 2022, and 2025, with 13 points in 13 games in total. A long-term injury would leave Latvia, and the Flyers, without an important bit of depth.
The Flyers have deployed Abols in a fourth-line role in his second season with the club. He has recorded 10 points, 22 penalty minutes, and a minus-one in 41 games. Each of those marks are up from the five points, four penalty minutes, and minus-10 that Abols recorded in the first 22 games of his NHL career last season. He should have a spot carved out at the bottom of Philadelphia’s lineup on the other side of this injury, so long as he returns before hitting unrestricted free agency this summer.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Edmonton Oilers have found a small bit of reliability in net. Goaltender Connor Ingram is expected to stick with the team even after he regains waiver eligibility per Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. The team is expected to carry three goaltenders – Ingram, Tristan Jarry, and Calvin Pickard – through the Olympic break. Ingram has recorded four wins and a .907 save percentage in his first eight games with Edmonton. The performance is a major improvement over the four wins and .856 save percentage he recorded in 11 AHL games to start the year – while this resurgence is wholely a nice rebound for Ingram after losing the Utah Hockey Club’s starting role last season. He seems to have found a new role in Edmonton, where he could earn a heap of starts with strong play. Ingram is currently the only Oilers goaltender with a save percentage above .900.
- The KHL’s Shanghai Dragons have hired Mitch Love as their next head coach after Gerard Gallant stepped down last week per Sergey Demidov of RG. Coach Mike Kelly – a former Florida Panthers coach who served as interim head coach in Gallant’s absence – will stay with the team as an assistant coach. Love was hired as an assistant coach by the Washington Capitals this summer but was placed on team-imposed leave before coaching in his first game. The leave was spurred by an NHL investigation into Love, ultimately revealed to be looking into allegations of domestic abuse against Love. The Capitals fired Love after that investigation. Love will now try to lift up a Dragons club that ranks third-to-last in the KHL’s Western Conference. Shanghai is led by former North American pros Spencer Foo, Austin Wagner, Alexander Burmistrov, and Kevin Labanc.
Gerard Gallant Steps Down From KHL Coaching Position
Longtime NHL head coach Gerard Gallant has decided to bring his tenure in Russia to an early end. He will be stepping away from his role as the head coach of the Shanghai Dragons – the KHL’s newest club – for personal health reasons per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Gallant will be returning to Canada to recover at home, LeBrun adds.
Shanghai posted a 13-17-0 record with Gallant at the helm. The team ranked ninth in their 11-team conference and seventh-to-last in the league outright. They were led by former Calgary Flames prospect Spencer Foo and Vegas Golden Knights prospect Jake Bischoff serving as captain and alternate captain respectively. Nicholas Merkley leads the team in scoring with 33 points in 43 games.
It was a quiet year for China’s newest representation in the KHL market. Through the fog of a down year with a new club, Gallant’s move to Russia will be remembered as an interesting right-turn. He has not coached in the NHL since leaving the New York Rangers after the 2022-23 season. Before then, Gallant had 10 seasons of head coaching experience in the NHL under his belt. He was among the cemented veterans in the coaching circuit, but opted to take those talents across the world after losing interest in North America.
Now, the question of when and where Gallant will coach next will return. He recently turned 62 years old, plenty young enough to return to the bench when he’s back to full health. The nature of Gallant’s ailment isn’t clear but he should be a prime coaching candidate when he’s ready to put himself back on the market.
Islanders’ Dmitry Gamzin Signs Two-Year Extension In Russia
The Islanders will have to wait at least two more seasons for goaltending prospect Dmitry Gamzin to arrive in North America. The Kontinental Hockey League announced he’s signed a two-year extension with CSKA Moscow, keeping him in Russia through the 2027-28 campaign.
Most high-profile Russian goaltending prospects wait until their mid-20s before coming to the NHL, opting to complete the entirety of their development at home rather than seeing any AHL time. It appears Gamzin will be no exception. The 22-year-old was initially draft-eligible back in 2021 but went unselected for several years until the Islanders took a flyer on him in the fourth round in 2024.
So far, it looks like a wise decision. The 6’3″, 174-lb netminder has since emerged as the starter for one of the country’s most successful organizations and put NHL veteran Spencer Martin out of a job earlier this season.
Now, he’s on track to win KHL Goalie of the Year honors, leading the league in save percentage (.933) and goals against average (1.71) in 26 appearances. He’s done so behind an unusually weak CSKA roster that just traded away its leading point-getter in Daniel Sprong and no longer has a skater producing above 0.67 points per game.
All signs point to him having a legit shot as a high-end backup to countryman Ilya Sorokin in the last few years of his deal. Sorokin, who also emerged from the CSKA organization, came over at age 25.
As a player drafted out of a Russian league, the Islanders hold Gamzin’s signing rights indefinitely.
Snapshots: Panarin, Duchene, Mrazek, Ivan
While many pending UFAs have recently signed extensions, that hasn’t been the case for Rangers winger Artemi Panarin who is now one of the top veterans on an expiring contract. With talks between the two sides believed to have not gone well so far, some have wondered if a return to the KHL could even be an option. Speaking with reporters recently including Mollie Walker of the New York Post (subscription link), the 34-year-old wouldn’t rule the idea out, simply saying that it’s hard to say right now what’s coming next for him. Despite the contractual uncertainty, Panarin is hovering near the point per game mark and is tied for the team lead in scoring with 26 points and would get plenty of interest if he makes it to the open market next summer.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Stars have been without center Matt Duchene for nearly six weeks due to an upper-body injury. DLLS Sports’ Sam Nestler notes (Twitter link) that the 34-year-old has already technically been medically cleared to return. However, he continues to experience some lingering symptoms. As a result, head coach Glen Gulutzan indicated that Duchene will still need to be out a little while longer to get properly conditioned to return. Duchene has a goal and an assist in four games this season after tallying 82 points in 2024-25.
- Ducks goaltender Petr Mrazek suffered what appears to be a lower-body in their game against Chicago this afternoon, relays WGN’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link). He was injured in the third period and while he was able to skate off under his own power, he wasn’t able to return. Anaheim is already without starter Lukas Dostal so, for the time being, Ville Husso is their top available option.
- Following their victory over Montreal on Saturday, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they have returned forward Ivan Ivan to AHL Colorado. The 23-year-old got into three games after being recalled up earlier this week, picking up an assist while averaging 8:19 of ice time. Ivan has played in 18 games in the minors with the Eagles this season, collecting two goals and four assists.