Admiral season preview: Still in Rebuilding Mode

Continuing KHL.ru’s club-by-club preview for the 2024-2025 season, we’re looking at Admiral today. The Sailors continue their roster overhaul, which began during the 2023-2024 season. The management is approaching the process on a grand scale, with nearly two dozen new players joining the team.In 2023, Admiral made history by reaching the second round of the playoffs for the first time. However, they were unable to replicate this success in the 2023-2024 season, as the team missed out on the Gagarin Cup playoffs, losing their chance to advance already on Feb 11.The departure of key players dealt a significant blow to the team. During the offseason, captain and one of the top scorers, d-man Libor Sulak, moved to Avangard. Although he returned to Admiral later in the season, by that time, the team had already traded Colby Williams to CSKA, with whom Sulak had played most effectively.The biggest loss, however, was Nikita Serebryakov, who left Admiral for SKA mid-season. As a result, the team had to start rebuilding during the season, making it unsurprising that playoff contention was no longer realistic. Ultimately, Admiral finished in a modest eleventh place.Roster changesArrivals: goalies Nikita Bogdanov (HC Sochi), Andrei Mishurov (Avangard, loan), Ilya Konovalov (Dynamo Moscow, trade); defensemen Mario Grman (Vitkovice, Czechia), Emil Nurgaliyev (Barys), Semyon Ruchkin (Spartak, trade), Georgy Solyannikov (Lada); forwards Ivan Muranov (Dynamo Moscow, trade), Artyom Nikolayev (HC Sochi), Denis Orlovich-Grudkov (Salavat Yulaev), Yegor Petukhov (Dynamo Moscow, trade), Jack Rodewald (Traktor), Anton Sagadeyev (HC Sochi), Daniil Skorikov (Neftekhimik, trade), Stepan Starkov (SKA, trade), Igor Ugolnikov (Vityaz, trade), Arkady Shestakov (Barys).Departures: goalie Sergei Ivanov (SKA, return from loan); defensemen Ruslan Ibatullin, Evgeny Lisovets, Yegor Nikitin (Dynamo Moscow, return from loan), Yury Pautov (Kunlun Red Star), Alexey Solovyov (Avangard), Maxim Chudinov, Mark Yanchevsky (Ak Bars, trade); forwards Anton Berlyov (Torpedo), Dmitry Buchelnikov (SKA, return from loan), Denis Golubev, Alexander Gorshkov, Prokhor Korbit (Spartak, trade), Pavel Mahanovsky, Yegor Morozov (Vityaz, trade), Semyon Pankratov, Cliff Pu (Dukla, Slovakia), Nikita Rtishchev (Neftekhimik, trade).Top 3 signingsMario GrmanAnother foreign player joining Admiral this offseason is the stay-at-home defenseman Mario Grman. He seems poised to replace Williams and partner with Sulak. Grman isn't known for his scoring — he’s never recorded more than 10 points in a season. His specialty lies in disrupting plays.At 21, Grman played a season with Slovan in the KHL, where he led the team in hits and blocked shots. He continued to excel in these areas while playing for SaiPa, HPK, and Vítkovice. Grman is a regular member of the Slovak national team, having participated in the Beijing Olympics and several World Championships.Arkady ShestakovThe 29-year-old Arkady Shestakov moved to Vladivostok from Astana as one of Barys' leaders. The last season was a breakthrough for him. He significantly improved his scoring ability and shooting skills. Previously, he had never scored more than 16 points in a regular season or more than nine goals, but by the end of the 2023-2024 season, he had 25 points (15 goals + 10 assists) to his name. Shestakov was involved in almost 20% of Barys’ goals.Sergei ShmelyovThe expert Russian forward was left free by Salavat Yulaev this summer and wasn’t left without a team for long. Shmelyov, 30, has more than 600 KHL games under his belt, and will add experience and creativity to the Sailors’ lineup. Last season was disappointing for the forward, who however contributed 28 (6+22) points as Ufa suffered from another early exit in the playoffs.CoachingFor Leonids Tambijevs, the upcoming season will be his fourth (and third full) as the head coach of Admiral. In total, he has led the Far East team in 163 KHL games, securing 68 victories, which equals a respectable 41.7% win rate.Given his demanding, uncompromising, and, in his own words, “unpleasant” coaching style, Tambijevs is likely to soon become Admiral’s record-holder for most games coached. Currently, the record belongs to Alexander Andriyevsky with 185 games.GoaliesAdmiral’s goaltending lineup includes Ilya Konovalov, Vasily Demchenko, Nikita Bogdanov, and Andrei Mishurov, who was loaned from Avangard.Recently, Admiral acquired Konovalov from Dynamo Moscow. It seems likely that he will become the starting goalie, but the competition will be fierce. Demchenko, who played for Admiral last season, has already earned a certain level of respect, and his former Avangard partner Mishurov clearly came to Vladivostok seeking significant playing time. The coaching staff will have plenty of options to choose from.DefenseFrom last season’s roster, only Libor Sulak, Leonid Metalnikov, and Nikita Makeyev remain in defense.Joining the vacant spots, in addition to the previously mentioned Grman, are Emil Nurgaliyev from Barys, Semyon Ruchkin from Spartak, and Georgy Solyannikov from Lada. Based on past performance, Nurgaliyev and Ruchkin are likely to play the role of classic defensemen, while Solyannikov, who scored 18 points for Lada, could become another offensive option alongside Sulak.OffenseThe situation with the forwards is similar. Only two lines of “veterans” remain on the team, while there are over ten new additions. The key departures have been widely discussed: Anton Berlyov, Dmitry Buchelnikov, and Prokhor Korbit will now play for Western Conference teams, and Alexander Gorshkov, the team’s top scorer, sniper, and playmaker, has also left.On the bright side, Admiral has acquired two players from Dynamo Moscow, Ivan Muranov and Yegor Petukhov, as well as center Jack Rodewald, who played well for Kunlun Red Star and contributed to Traktor’s strong playoff run in 2024. Additionally, Stepan Starkov, who had an impressive season with Vityaz in 2022-2023 but struggled in the highly competitive environment of SKA, has joined the team.The other newcomers also look quite intriguing and have their own strengths. However, due to the sheer number of changes, it’s hard to definitively assess whether Admiral's offense will actually improve.Young playersThe previous season was very challenging for Admiral’s junior team, Taifun, which finished second to last in the Western Conference standings. However, even in such tough circumstances, some players managed to shine. The standout was the team’s top scorer, Stepan Levitsky, who recorded 35 (14+21) points. He will spend another year within Admiral’s system.Rafik Varosyan had an impressive debut in the MHL, earning 27 (9+18) points in 38 games. Some might say that at sixteen (or seventeen after his birthday in October), it’s too early to consider a KHL debut, but there are precedents — Vladimir Tarasenko and Danila Yurov both played their first games in the league at sixteen.What to expectFor now, Admiral is a bit of a mystery. The roster is being overhauled on a truly revolutionary scale. Additionally, a significant group of players on tryout contracts is cycling through the team during the summer. Some stayed for the summer preparation, while others were already let go by Tambijevs. On paper, the new Admiral lineup appears fairly balanced, but the main question is whether they will find the optimal composition by the start of the season.If Tambijevs can stabilize the roster and unlock the full potential of the newcomers, Admiral could compete for a playoff spot. Otherwise, they might only slightly improve on last season’s performance. Therefore, it’s fair to predict a relatively broad r