Lada season preview: Jumping higher than expected, part two

KHL.ru continues on previewing the 2024-2025 season for the league’s teams. Today, it’s Lada’s turn. Last season, the Togliatti side made it to the playoffs; now they will have to live up to those expectations.Last seasonReturning to the KHL after a six-year hiatus and being assembled on a residual basis right during the preseason, Lada immediately made it to the playoffs and became the biggest sensation of the 2023-2024 campaign. The Togliatti side entered the top eight of the Eastern Conference in mid-September and remained there until the end of the regular season, despite hitting a significant slump around February — whether physical or psychological — losing games consecutively.Lada’s transformation seemed to stem from a sense of complacency as they met and exceeded their season goals. Nevertheless, the result achieved far surpassed expectations, leaving a very positive impression of Togliatti’s performance.Roster changesDepartures: defense Artyom Borodkin, Gleb Bulychyov, Mislav Rosandic, Georgy Solyannikov, Alexei Volgin (Sokol, VHL); offense Yegor Babenko, Scott Kosmachuk, Pavel Kulikov, Donat Stalnov (HC Sochi, end of loan), Sergei Shumakov, Alexei Vasilkov (HC Sochi, end of loan).Arrivals: goalie Maxim Tretyak (HC Sochi); defense Denis Barantsev (Avtomobilist), Arseny Koromyslov (SKA, loan), Yegor Morozov (Sokol, VHL, trade), Ziyat Paigin (Sibir), Gleb Semyonov (Avangard, trade), Magomed Sharakanov (Dynamo Moscow, loan); forwards Rafael Bikmullin (Neftekhimik), Yegor Chernikov (Yugra, VHL, trade), Anthony Greco (Linkopings, SWE), Arkhip Nekolenko (Metallurg).Top 3 signingsArkhip Nekolenko had long played a consistent secondary role for Metallurg, but he didn’t fit into Andrei Razin’s rebuilding plans and was eventually dropped from the lineup. This doesn’t necessarily mean he declined as a player — sometimes a coach simply prefers someone else for a particular role, or the player may not fit the coach’s system. However, Nekolenko should be a valuable acquisition for Lada, especially given his longstanding relationship with Oleg Bratash. Nekolenko trained as a kid at the Krylya Sovetov school, where Bratash was an emerging coach. They later reunited at MHK Spartak, winning the Kharlamov Cup together. So, he should integrate well.Denis Barantsev is an experienced player, having won the Gagarin Cup twice. Last season, he started as the seventh defenseman for Avtomobilist and ended up missing more than half of the regular season. Upon his return, he worked his way up to the first or second defensive pairing and even outperformed all other Avtomobilist defensemen in playoff scoring.Barantsev is a Togliatti native and a product of Lada’s youth system, though he only played one season for the senior team in 2014-2015. A similar story applies to Ziyat Paigin — he was also born in Togliatti but trained in the Penza system. Paigin played only a small part of one season for Lada when they were in the VHL in 2018. At 29, Paigin has had a varied career, playing for three teams in the VHL, seven in the KHL, and even stints in the AHL and the Swedish league. Last season, which he split between Avangard, Omskie Krylya, and Sibir, didn’t go particularly well for him, but a brief return to the VHL with 3 goals and 2 assists in seven games showed that his skills as an offensive defenseman are still intact.CoachingOleg Bratash has been coaching for over 20 years, but it was only last season that he made his debut as a head coach in the KHL. From 2016 to 2023, he worked with various Russian national teams, including the junior, second, and youth squads, and once led the senior team in the Karjala Cup. Before that, he was an assistant coach to Alexei Kudashov at Lokomotiv and led MHK Spartak (winning the Kharlamov Cup) and Loko in the JHL (reaching the semifinals but losing to the eventual champions). In total, he won 135 out of 212 games, which amounts to a 63.68% win rate — one of the best in JHL history for coaches with at least 200 games.While it’s not entirely accurate to compare youth hockey results to professional levels, these stats provide some context. As for professional hockey, Lada’s performance relative to general expectations speaks for itself. Without top-tier coaching, their success simply wouldn’t have been possible.GoaliesLast season’s goaltending squad remains intact and has even been bolstered by the addition of Maxim Tretyak. This reinforcement might not seem entirely necessary, as Vladislav Podyapolsky had arguably the best season of his career, while Alexander Trushkov handled his backup duties well. If Vladislav continues to perform at the same level, he won’t need another backup. However, if Podyapolsky suddenly declines (unlikely, but let’s assume) or gets injured, it’s doubtful that Trushkov and Tretyak would be able to compensate for it, either individually or together.DefenseAlongside Podyapolsky, one of Lada’s main strengths was its disciplined defense, which appears to have been solidly reinforced. The only significant loss is Georgy Solyannikov, but there have been more quality additions to the lineup. The only concern is that there isn’t a single right-handed defenseman in the main roster or even close to it, which is a rarity these days. However, last season was almost the same (aside from Nikolai Glukhov, who played just four games before his contract was terminated).OffenseThe attack hasn’t suffered any catastrophic losses, which is good news. However, there have also been no major signings, which is a downside. The outlook for Anthony Greco is uncertain: he played well in the AHL, but didn’t shine much in the Swedish league, especially in his second season. For now, it seems like he’ll be a direct replacement for Scott Kosmachuk — a solid but not key forward. The previously mentioned Arkhip Nekolenko and Yegor Chernikov, who joined from Yugra, should add depth to the offense, but probably not significantly. Yet, significant improvement is needed since offensive play wasn’t one of Lada’s strengths last season.However, things seem to be improving. In their first preseason game, Togliatti’s offense performed impressively with a 7-1 victory over Kazakhstan’s national team. The following day, they scored five more goals against Amur...Young playersLast season, Bratash’s extensive experience working with youth was hardly put to use. This wasn’t due to a lack of interest, but rather because he simply didn’t have many young players at his disposal. Throughout the entire season, he utilized only four players under the age of 23, the most active of whom was Gleb Bulychyov, who averaged just six and a half minutes of ice time per game and played in less than half of the matches. The other three had even more modest statistics. This season, however, the situation promises to change. The team captain and top-scoring defenseman for Ladia, Karim Vafin, has matured and is ready for a bigger role (he was one of the four young players last year). Additionally, the top-scoring defenseman from Sokol, Yegor Morozov, has joined the team.Furthermore, Arseny Koromyslov and Magomed Sharakanov, on loan from SKA and Dynamo Moscow respectively, bring with them experience not only in the VHL but also in the KHL. The abundance of young talent on defense might be a bit excessive, as it’s unlikely all four will make the roster simultaneously, but this gives Bratash room to maneuver.As for the offense, things are simpler. The current roster of Ladia doesn’t yet feature forwards ready to play in the KHL on a regular basis. However, 21-year-old center Yegor Chernikov, acquired from Yugra, stands out after t