This review covers the 2024/2025 KHL season for HC Sochi. Under the guidance of Sergey Zubov, the team once again failed to reach the playoffs. However, the club still left its mark on League history thanks to a remarkable achievement by forward Daniil Seroukh.
HC Sochi began the season with a hard-fought shootout win over Spartak (2:1 SO), but September was largely unsuccessful – the team secured only two victories in nine games. October brought a three-game winning streak, including two shutouts (1:0 against Severstal, 5:0 against Admiral), but immediately after that, the “Leopards” suffered three consecutive losses.
The team`s situation didn`t improve significantly afterward; points were hard to come by, and Sochi struggled to climb out of the bottom of the Western Conference standings. In February, with theoretical playoff chances still remaining, the team put together a four-game winning streak, including two impressive victories over CSKA (2:0 at home, 4:1 away). CSKA is historically a very difficult opponent for Sochi, yet in the 2024/2025 season, the southern club won three out of four meetings against the Moscow Army team. Sochi also performed well against Lada, winning both games.
Following this successful run, losses to direct competitors for a playoff spot – Torpedo and Kunlun Red Star – occurred. These defeats ended Sochi`s race for a spot in the top eight, marking the sixth consecutive year the team missed the Gagarin Cup playoffs.
Top Players
Artur Tianulin
Tianulin finished the 2024/2025 season as Sochi`s top scorer, surpassing the 40-point mark for the second year in a row. In September-October, he set a club record by recording points in ten consecutive games. By the end of the season, Tianulin climbed to second place on Sochi`s all-time scoring list with 115 points. He had a chance to catch the leader, Ilya Krikunov (122), but an injury in mid-February prevented him from finishing the season.
Daniil Seroukh
Seroukh`s second season in the KHL was a real breakthrough. Compared to his rookie year, where he collected a modest 11 (7+4) points, his production more than tripled this season, reaching 37 (18+19) points. Four times during the season, he managed to get at least three points in a game. The absolute highlight of his season was the game against Dynamo (5:3) on February 19, where Seroukh became only the second player in KHL history to score five goals in a single match.
Interestingly, overshadowed by this incredible feat was the previous game for Sochi and Seroukh (against CSKA on February 17) – in that match, Daniil scored a magnificent short-handed goal that turned out to be the game-winner for the southern team!
William Bittén
The Canadian forward started the 2024/2025 season with Spartak but didn`t find his place in Alexei Zhamnov`s team. Spartak placed Bittén on waivers, from where Sochi claimed him. This turned out to be a true “steal”! Bittén scored six goals in his first six games for Sochi. In total, he recorded 14 (10+4) points in thirty games for the southern club, entering the top five among the team`s goal scorers. This summer, Bittén received a new contract and will remain with Sochi for the 2025/2026 season.
Coach
Sergey Zubov was the head coach for Sochi in the 2024/2025 season, having signed a two-year contract before the championship started. Zubov had previously led Sochi, guiding the team to the playoffs twice, finishing sixth in the KHL regular seasons of 2017/2018 and 2018/2019. The result of the past season was deemed unsatisfactory, leading to a change of head coach this offseason. However, it`s worth noting that Zubov will hold an important place in the club`s history – he is the leader among Sochi coaches by games coached (211) and ranks second in victories (85).
Best Game
Sochi played several memorable games against Western Conference powerhouses this season, including the aforementioned victories over CSKA and an away success against SKA (5:2 in November). However, the game against Dynamo, where Seroukh scored a penta-trick, remains the most striking. Even setting aside the forward`s historic achievement, the game itself was highly entertaining, with the teams combining for eight goals.
Young Players
Sochi`s coaching staff actively utilized young players, particularly noticeable in the goaltending tandem. The season began with 19-year-old Egor Zavragin in net. Even after his transfer to SKA, Evgeny Volokhin (who turned 20 in April) and Nikita Tulinov (who turned 21 during the season) regularly featured between the pipes for the “Leopards.”
Among the skaters, forwards Artemy Kuznetsov and Dmitry Utkin are worth mentioning. 20-year-old Kuznetsov became a solid regular player for Sochi this season, recording 9 (3+6) points in 52 regular season games. 22-year-old Utkin has been playing with the main roster for the third year, participating in about a quarter of the season`s games. He has capitalized on his chances, registering 4 (2+2) points in 18 games in the past championship. Several other young forwards – for example, Alexei Vasilkov, Zakhar Mits, Fedor Abramov – went goalless this season, but results are likely to come in the future.
Offseason Work
Sochi is entering a new era – the team is now led by Vyacheslav Kozlov, who spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach for Dynamo Moscow.
Sochi`s transfer policy this summer looks interesting. The team has a core – most key players for the “Leopards” had lengthy contracts, and some were extended this offseason. The club`s management is adding quality players to this core. The southern club signed experienced goaltenders Pavel Khomchenko and Dmitry Shikin, brought back defenseman Fedor Kroshchinsky from loan, and acquired Ilya Nikolaev from Traktor, who was a fairly important player in Benoit Groulx`s system.
In the offense, Canadian forward Jean-Christophe Beaudin appears to be an intriguing acquisition. Last season, he played for TPS in Finland, recording 42 (15+27) points in 57 regular season games and an additional 2 (0+2) points in five playoff matches.
Neville Woodall 
Gareth Tenby