Ty Smith Signs With KHL’s Dinamo Minsk
After watching his opportunity in the NHL pass him by over the last few years, defenseman Ty Smith is going to try his luck overseas. According to a team announcement, Dinamo Minsk of the KHL has signed Smith to a one-year contract for the 2025-26 KHL season.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Smith was considered one of the better defensive prospects in the NHL. After an impressive year with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs in which he scored 14 goals and 73 points in 69 games with a +44 rating, the New Jersey Devils selected Smith 17th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft.
Smith spent a few more years in Spokane before jumping directly to the NHL for the 2020-21 season. Despite having relatively high expectations, Smith performed well in his rookie season, scoring two goals and 23 points in 48 games with a -9 rating, averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game. That year was good enough for a spot on that year’s All-Rookie Team, and for seventh in Calder Trophy voting.
Unfortunately, Smith’s fall from grace was relatively rapid. He scored five goals and 20 points in 66 games the following year, watching his average ice time drop closer to 17 minutes. His -26 rating was the worst on the team that year, and his 87.7% on-ice save percentage was second-to-last among defensemen, behind Dougie Hamilton.
Having a potent desire to upgrade, the Devils packaged Smith and a 2023 third-round pick in a deal to acquire John Marino from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Believing that he needed to take a step back in his developmental process, the Penguins stashed Smith with their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, for much of the 2022-23 season.
Still, the AHL Penguins is where he’s had the most success in his professional career, scoring nine goals and 43 points in 63 games during the 2023-24 AHL season. Regardless, the Penguins dealt Smith to the Carolina Hurricanes at that year’s trade deadline in the Jake Guentzel trade.
Being his last year in North America for the time being, Smith scored five goals and 28 points in 36 games for the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, during the 2024-25 season. He registered an additional eight contests at the NHL level, scoring one goal and one assist.
He’ll join a Dinamo Minsk team that advanced beyond the quarterfinals of the Gagarin Cup playoffs for the first time in four years, losing to Traktor Chelyabinsk in the semifinals. He’ll join fellow countrymen Chris Tierney and Xavier Ouellet in Belarus.
Kuznetsov Willing To Take Bonus-Laden Contract For NHL Return
On this week’s rendition of Hello Hockey with Shawn Belle and Tom Gazzola, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period spoke briefly about Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s desire to return to the NHL. To ensure a return to the sport’s top league, Pagnotta indicated that Kuznetsov would be willing to sign a low AAV deal with performance bonuses.
It’s been a few years since Kuznetsov has been a highly relevant NHL center. He was a point-per-game scorer during the 2021-22 season with the Washington Capitals, recording 24 goals and 78 points in 79 games with a +7 rating, while averaging 20:17 of ice time per night.
Unfortunately, things began slipping the following season, as Kuznetsov finished the 2022-23 campaign with 12 goals and 55 points in 81 games with a -26 rating, seeing his average ice time drop to 18:04. It wasn’t necessarily bad production from a second-line center — but it was a far cry from what Kuznetsov had been able to do even a year earlier.
Things completely unraveled during the 2023-24 campaign. He had a dreadful start to the year with Washington, mustering six goals and 17 points in 43 games with a -11 rating. After spending a month in the NHL Player Assistance Program, the Capitals waived Kuznetsov in early March, sending him to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, after clearing.
His time with the Capitals in late January of 2024 ended up being the last moments of his time with the team. Washington traded Kuznetsov to the Carolina Hurricanes at the trade deadline for a mid-round draft pick. He finished the year with two goals and seven points in 20 games for the Hurricanes, adding another four goals and six points in 10 postseason contests.
Having little desire to retain him for the 2024-25 campaign, Carolina placed Kuznetsov on unconditional waivers for a mutual termination of Kuznetsov’s contract, allowing the Chelyabinsk, Russia native to return home to continue his professional career. A few weeks later, Kuznetsov signed a four-year deal with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg.
There’s a decent chance some of his offensive value has been rebuilt after a strong year with St. Petersburg. Kuznetsov scored 12 goals and 37 points in 39 games with a +13 rating. Pursuing another chance in the NHL, Kuznetsov and SKA mutually parted ways in April, leaving us where we are now.
Although it seemed like a natural fit, it’s already been reported that the Montreal Canadiens wouldn’t pursue Kuznetsov this offseason, and they seemingly filled their need for center depth yesterday by signing Joe Veleno. Additionally, other reports have indicated that a reunion with the Capitals isn’t on the table.
After briefly looking through projected rosters for the 2025-26 season, and assuming Kuznetsov is open to a bottom-six role, the Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins could all use additional depth, especially at the center position.
Snapshots: Hartley, Penguins, Desnoyers, Army
Long-time NHL head coach Bob Hartley has decided to return to coaching. The KHL announced (Twitter link) that Hartley has been hired by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl as their new bench boss. The 64-year-old will be making his second foray into coaching in Russia having spent four seasons coaching Avangard Omsk before leaving them in 2022; he hadn’t coached anywhere since then. Hartley is also a veteran of 944 NHL games between Colorado, Atlanta, and Calgary with his teams playing to a .556 points percentage. He won the Stanley Cup back in 2001 but only made the playoffs in three of ten seasons after that.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- While Fenway Sports Group has said that they’re only interested in selling a small portion of the Penguins, their old ownership group continues to look into the possibility of one day buying a controlling stake, reports Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription link). The group, led by long-time Penguin legend Mario Lemieux, sold the team back in 2021 with a franchise valuation of $900MM. Since then, franchise values have gone up with Forbes recently pegging the team’s value at nearly double that amount so re-acquiring even a controlling interest in the team might be costlier than what they received for it not quite four years ago.
- The Wild’s AHL team in Iowa announced that they’ve signed forward Elliot Desnoyers to a one-year, one-way contract. The 23-year-old has four career NHL games under his belt, coming with Philadelphia back in 2022-23. Since then, Desnoyers has played exclusively in the AHL and had 19 points in 59 games which wasn’t enough to earn a qualifying offer last month.
- The Avalanche’s AHL affiliate announced the hiring of Derek Army as an assistant coach. The 34-year-old spent parts of the last five seasons as head coach of ECHL Wheeling, becoming the winningest coach in franchise history with a 153-137-19 record over that stretch. Army also spent the past four seasons as their Director of Hockey Operations but will now focus exclusively on coaching with the Eagles.
Russia Notes: Babcock, Gallant, Tortorella, Kuznetsov, Obvintsev
The KHL’s Kunlun Red Star is making an aggressive push to land a high-profile name as its next head coach. They’ve made attempts to land longtime NHL coaches Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant, and John Tortorella this summer, reports Dmitry Erykalov of Sport24.ru.
While legally based in Beijing, Kunlun hasn’t played in China since the pandemic. They’ve operated out of a Moscow suburb called Mystichi in recent years but will now play out of St. Petersburg’s SKA Arena, the largest area in the world built for hockey at a capacity of 22,500. Just a few years old, SKA St. Petersburg played part of last season there but will move back to its old venue for 2025-26 due to underwhelming attendance and “low transport accessibility.”
Erykalov writes that Kunlun has also appointed former Avangard Omsk chairman Alexander Krylov to a hockey operations role ahead of the 2025-26 campaign; he previously approached Babcock about Omsk’s vacancy in 2022. Of the three, Erykalov relays that Gallant would be the most realistic hire for the fledgling club as he’s told KHL clubs he “would not mind working” in Russia. That tracks after he wasn’t firmly connected to any NHL coaching vacancies this offseason.
Kunlun has long been irrelevant in the grand scheme of KHL play, especially with the goal of directly supporting professional hockey in China seemingly abandoned post-Olympics and pandemic. The club made the KHL playoffs in its first season back in 2016-17 but hasn’t since. Their 19-34-9-6 record last season was its best in five years, though.
Other notes from Russia:
- Earlier today, we relayed word that the Canadiens wouldn’t be offering center Evgeny Kuznetsov a contract as he attempts an NHL return despite speculation otherwise. His agent also said to rule out a return to the Capitals, where he spent the vast majority of the first stint of his time in North America. “I don’t see how he could go back,” Shumi Babaev said, after Kuznetsov’s tenure in Washington ended on the waiver wire before being dealt to the Hurricanes for a mid-round pick at the 2023 trade deadline. Kuznetsov, whose 568 points in 723 games rank seventh in Caps franchise history, had 37 points in 39 KHL games last season for SKA in his first season at home in over a decade.
- Maple Leafs goaltending prospect Timofei Obvintsev has signed a one-year deal with Gornyak-UGMK of the VHL, Russia’s second-tier pro league, the league announced. A 2024 fifth-round pick, Obvintsev saw just 11 games of action in Russia’s top junior league last season with CSKA Moscow’s affiliate club, posting a 2.78 GAA, .908 SV%, one shutout, and a 6-4-0 record. The 20-year-old could be in line for a move to North America next season if he impresses in the pro ranks.
Morning Notes: Comtois, Kuznetsov, AHL
Back in the spring, Max Comtois was believed to be receiving some interest to return to North America. However, it appears the offers weren’t to his liking, relays Sport-Express’ Mikhail Zislis, who notes that the winger is expected to sign a two-year deal to remain with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL. Comtois was quite productive with them last season, picking up 21 goals and 29 assists in 62 regular season games while adding 13 points in 15 playoff contests. He has 87 points in 211 career NHL contests but it appears he won’t have a chance to add to those totals for another couple of years at least.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- While the Canadiens are known to be searching for center help, they are not among the teams pursuing Evgeny Kuznetsov. His agent, Shumi Babaev, told Louis-Andre Lariviere of La Page Sportive that Montreal has informed him that they won’t be offering Kuznetsov a contract. The 33-year-old had 37 points in 39 games with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL last season where he was teammates with Canadiens winger Ivan Demidov who is expected to play his first full NHL season in 2025-26. Kuznetsov has 575 points in 743 games at the NHL level over an 11-year career but managed just 23 points in 64 games in 2023-24 between Carolina and Washington.
- On Thursday, the AHL released its end-of-season Excellence Awards. Avalanche defenseman Jacob MacDonald was the winner of the President’s Award for player excellence after setting a league record for most goals by a blueliner with 31, helping earn him the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s outstanding defenseman. Meanwhile, the newly established Bruce Landon Award for the most outstanding hockey operations executive went to Canadiens assistant GM John Sedgwick, who also serves as the GM of AHL Laval.
Nikolai Kovalenko Signs With CSKA Moscow
A couple of years ago, it looked like winger Nikolai Kovalenko was going to have a chance to become an impactful NHL player. Instead, he is effectively one-and-done in North America as CSKA Moscow of the KHL announced on its Telegram page that they’ve signed Kovalenko to a two-year contract.
The 25-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Colorado back in 2018, going 171st overall. While it took some time, Kovalenko became a key scoring threat back home, putting up 87 points over his last two seasons with KHL Torpedo, earning himself an entry-level contract along the way.
Once Kovalenko’s KHL season ended in 2024, he was brought up by the Avs and even got into a pair of playoff contests that spring for his first taste of NHL action. The hope was that he’d be well-positioned to upgrade Colorado’s bottom-six group heading into last season with potentially showing enough to move into the top six whenever injuries crept up.
Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as planned on that front. Kovalenko was limited to just four goals and four assists in the first 28 games of the season while logging just 12 minutes a night of playing time. Instead of being an upgrade on some of the question marks the Avalanche deployed at the back of their forward group, he simply became another one of them.
As a result, Colorado opted to trade Kovalenko to San Jose in early December as one of the key pieces of the return for Mackenzie Blackwood who was brought in to shore up their goaltending (and later signed a five-year extension). With the Sharks firmly in rebuilding mode, it seemed like Kovalenko would get a longer leash and potentially develop into the type of player the Avs were hoping he’d become.
But that didn’t happen. Kovalenko found himself primarily in the same role he had with Colorado and even found himself as a healthy scratch at times. He got into 29 games with San Jose, notching just three goals and nine assists while his ice time ticked up only slightly to 12:40 per game. With the Sharks looking to shake things up roster-wise this summer, they elected to non-tender Kovalenko last month, making him an unrestricted free agent.
While Kovalenko was believed to prefer to stay in the NHL, evidently the offers weren’t to his liking so he has decided to return home after just one full season across the pond. Given his age, it’s quite possible that he’ll be able to get himself back on the radar if he immediately goes back to being a top performer at the KHL level so this might not be the last we see of him in North America.
Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto-Imagn Images.
Snapshots: Drouin, Hoefenmayer, CBA
Winger Jonathan Drouin elaborated on what led him to sign with the New York Islanders in a Thursday night appearance on NHL Tonight. He shared that it was the makeup of the team’s offense, the coaching staff, and the Islanders’ all-around culture that led him to a move across the country this summer.
Drouin spoke specifically to each point, sharing that his relationships with winger Anthony Duclair and recent assistant coach hire Ray Bennett, and head coach Patrick Roy, all heavily influenced his decision. Drouin played against both Duclair and Roy many times during his days in the QMJHL, from 2011 to 2014. He was also coached by Bennett in each of his last two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche.
Drouin also noted that seeing the Islanders’ honoring of Matthew Schaefer‘s mother at the NHL Draft was an additional nod to how well the club treats its players. With multiple positives laid out, New York will land a winger who managed 19 goals and 56 points in 79 games in 2023-24, and 37 points in 43 games of the 2024-25 season. He missed a significant portion of the mid-season with a lower-body injury, but worked back to full health before March. He will step into a hardy, top-nine role in New York’s increasingly crowded forward group.
More notes from around the hockey world:
- After being non-tendered by Montreal last month, unrestricted free agent defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer has signed a one-year deal with HK Sochi, per an announcement on the KHL team’s Telegram page. The 26-year-old spent time with AHL Bakersfield and Laval last season, notching 21 points in 43 regular season games while also suiting up for Canada at the Spengler Cup in December.
- PuckPedia highlights a couple of changes of some significance in the recently released CBA Memorandum of Understanding that comes into effect for the 2026-27 season. There is now a 10-day in-season PTO option with the signing team getting the right of first refusal if another team tries to sign that player. Meanwhile, the post-deadline regular recall limit of four has been expanded to five, giving teams a bit more flexibility roster-wise after the trade deadline. Our Josh Erickson will be doing a Q&A about the MOU next week; you can submit your questions for that here.
Blue Jackets’ Pyotr Andreyanov Signs Five-Year Deal In Russia
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie prospect Pyotr Andreyanov has signed a five-year deal with CSKA of Russia’s KHL, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The deal will carry Andreyanov through his age-23 season in Russia’s top flight. Andreyanov was recently selected 20th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. Notably, the deal includes an NHL release clause after the fourth season, according to Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers.
This move may come as a shock to many after Columbus selected Andreyanov about 20 spots earlier than many predicted. But sources available to ProHockeyRumors have indicated that the netminder’s plan to sign long-term in Russia was arranged before the draft took place, and comes with a clear intention to move to North America when the deal concludes. That’s excellent news for the Blue Jackets, who land another Russian phenom with this selection.
Andreyanov is lauded as one of Russia’s best goalies in recent memory. He posted a dazzling 23-6-6 record and .942 save percentage through 37 games in the MHL – Russia’s U21 league – this season. That performance gave mere decimals away from breaking the league’s save percentage record among draft-age goalies. That mark is currently held by New York’s Igor Shesterkin (.947).
Andreyanov earned that flashy season on the back of impressive athleticism. He was regarded by many as both the fastest and most controlled goaltender in the class, with an exceptional ability to track the puck and stay locked in between movements. He doesn’t get bogged down by traffic and shows the sly-grin determination to stop every chance that comes his way. Andreyanov is an exceptional goalie talent in many regards – and while his sharp and explosive movements can sometimes land him outside of his crease, there’s a shortlist of other Russians who would place above the CSKA Red Army netminder.
Columbus will add Andreyanov to an already stacked pipeline of goalie prospects. He’ll join compatriot Sergei Ivanov – a 2023 fifth-round pick – at the top of the Blue Jackets’ list. Ivanov posted a .911 save percentage with HK Sochi – often a bottom-ranked club in the KHL – this season. He had a much better save percentage of .943 in 38 KHL games last year. With Andreyanov and Ivanov in the system, the Blue Jackets could soon be relieved of their goalie concerns, once they convince top Russians to come overseas.
William Dufour Signs With KHL’s Lada Togliatti
After going non-tendered by the Avalanche, winger William Dufour has signed a contract with Russian club Lada Togliatti for 2025-26, the team announced.
Dufour, still just 23, was one of the Islanders’ better prospects not too long ago. The 6’3″, 212-lb winger was a fifth-round pick in 2020 but popped offensively in a big way in the junior ranks, leading the QMJHL in goals and being named the league’s MVP following a 2021-22 season with the Saint John Sea Dogs that saw him post a 56-60–116 scoring line in 66 games. He also led the Sea Dogs to that year’s Memorial Cup title as the host city and posted a point per game for Canada at the World Juniors en route to a gold medal.
He followed that up with a strong first professional season in 2022-23. He was among AHL Bridgeport’s leading scorers with 21 goals and 48 points in 69 games and even made his NHL debut, posting a minus-two rating in 6:48 of ice time in a loss to the Bruins on Jan. 18, 2023.
That stands as Dufour’s only NHL appearance. His offensive production has decreased sharply in the two years following that promising rookie showing, logging 25 points in 55 games with Bridgeport in 2023-24, before managing only eight goals and 18 points through his first 45 appearances of the following season. He was sent to Colorado in the deadline blockbuster that brought Brock Nelson to Denver as the Isles looked to gain some additional assets from the Avs and land Dufour a fresh start.
Instead, Dufour only had four points in 12 games with the Colorado Eagles to close out 2024-25. Despite his previous track record as an intriguing prospect, that was enough for the Avalanche to let him walk for nothing months after acquiring him.
The Quebec City native will now look for a different opportunity overseas. It’s rare to see a player so young take this route, but it does afford him enough development time to get his career back on track and legitimately eye an NHL return in the coming years.
He joins a Lada roster that lacks NHL pedigree outside of Bruins 2011 second-rounder Alexander Khokhlachev and Sharks undrafted free agent signing Danil Yurtaykin. The club’s 17-36-5-10 record last season was among the worst in the KHL.
Metropolitan Notes: Vladar, Barkey, Penguins, Ilyin
With teams being warned about the potential for tampering, not as many contracts were announced in the opening minutes of free agency on Tuesday. One exception was new Flyers goaltender Daniel Vladar. In an interview with iSport’s Pavel Barta, the 27-year-old indicated that his two-year, $6.7MM agreement with Philadelphia was in place within three minutes of the market opening up. Vladar was seeking an opportunity to be a starting goalie and he should get a chance to battle for that role with the Flyers who had incumbents Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov all struggle considerably last season. While Vladar’s 2.80 GAA and .898 SV% last season in 30 games with Calgary aren’t elite numbers, they’re still an upgrade on what Philadelphia received in 2024-25.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Still with the Flyers, prospect Denver Barkey has nearly fully recovered from the ankle injury that hindered him in the playoffs, relays PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was a third-round pick two years ago and was a top producer with OHL London. Last season, Barkey had 82 points in 50 games with the Knights while adding 20 points in 10 playoff contests. Now pro-eligible, Barkey will likely start next season at AHL Lehigh Valley but a good start there could have him in the mix for a recall fairly quickly given his track record of production.
- Winger Matej Blumel told Hokej.cz’s Dominik Dubovchi that the Penguins were the other finalist to sign him in free agency earlier this week. The 25-year-old was the top goal-getter in the AHL last season, notching 39 in 67 games with AHL Texas but that only earned him seven games with Dallas where he scored once. Blumel was eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency and ultimately signed a one-year, one-way contract worth $875K with Boston.
- Still with the Penguins, prospect Mikhail Ilyin will stay in the KHL for next season, assistant GM Jason Spezza told reporters including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). However, the hope is that the winger will come to North America for the 2026-27 campaign. Ilyin, a fifth-round pick back in 2023, had 30 points in 64 games with Severstal Cherepovets last season, finishing third on the team in scoring.