Salavat Yulaev`s previous summer saw the departure of Ivan Drozdov, who was the team`s second-leading scorer the season before. However, ahead of the 2024/2025 season, Salavat`s import contingent was bolstered by the additions of Sheldon Rempal and Nathan Todd. Their signing proved to be an excellent move by the club; the Canadians integrated seamlessly into the league, and the performance of Salavat`s foreign players generally reached a new level during the 2024/2025 campaign, contributing significantly to Ufa`s strong results.
Under the guidance of Viktor Kozlov, Salavat Yulaev adopted an exciting offensive style, making their games consistently entertaining to watch. While scoring early in the season relied heavily on imports, Russian players also found good form as the regular championship progressed. This collective effort allowed Salavat to compete with Traktor for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Ufa team finished second, just three points behind Chelyabinsk, and placed third overall in the league standings – the same position they held in the 2010/2011 season, which famously ended with Salavat Yulaev winning the championship.
Yet, neither the spectacular statistics of the import players nor their high standing in the regular season table guaranteed Salavat Yulaev success in the playoffs. The memory of two consecutive first-round exits from the Gagarin Cup was undoubtedly weighing on the minds of players, coaches, and fans.
The first-round series against Sibir began with two dominant victories but ultimately turned into a gruelling seven-game battle. The next round against Spartak also proved to be an emotional rollercoaster – a win in the opening game was followed by three straight losses, a dramatic comeback, and a 3-2 victory in the seventh game. Defender Alexei Vasilevsky emerged as a true hero of the series, scoring the game-winning goals in both Game 6 and Game 7.
Salavat Yulaev also started their series against Lokomotiv with a victory, even managing an away win. This marked Ufa`s first appearance in the semifinals since 2019. However, Salavat`s playoff success ended there, as Lokomotiv proved stronger in the subsequent four matches.
Key Players
Joshua Leivo
Joshua Leivo was the top scorer and goal-scorer in the regular championship, tallying 80 points (49 goals, 31 assists) in 62 games. Leivo broke Sergey Mozyakin`s single-season goal-scoring record for a regular championship. Voted by coaches as the regular season`s Most Valuable Player, Leivo won the “Golden Stick” award for the first time in his career. He complemented this with a somewhat mixed but still productive performance in the playoffs, recording 15 points (2 goals, 13 assists) in 14 games.
Sheldon Rempal
The 29-year-old Canadian completed his first KHL season. He averaged nearly a point per game in the regular season with 61 points (31 goals, 30 assists) in 68 games. He then became the top scorer in the Gagarin Cup playoffs, adding 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists) in 19 appearances.
Alexander Khmelevski
Khmelevski is undoubtedly a leader for Salavat Yulaev, improving his performance every KHL season. In the 2024/2025 championship, Alexander Khmelevski recorded 72 points (33 goals, 39 assists), finishing among the top 3 team scorers in both the regular season and the playoffs.
The Coach
It`s fair to say Viktor Kozlov is a legendary figure for Ufa hockey. In 2011, Kozlov captained the championship-winning Salavat Yulaev team, and the past season was his third as the team`s head coach.
His first two seasons yielded mixed results – strong regular seasons finishing in the top 3 but first-round playoff exits. In his third year, Viktor Nikolaevich clearly learned from past mistakes, and his Salavat Yulaev team in the 2024/2025 season was undeniably stronger.
Kozlov holds the record among Salavat Yulaev coaches in the KHL for most games coached (238) and most wins (122, a 51.2% winning percentage).
Best Match
Starting the playoffs with a shutout win is good. Starting the playoffs with a dominant shutout win is even better! Salavat Yulaev`s first game in the 2025 Gagarin Cup playoffs was magnificent. A 7-0 victory against Sibir at home, a shutout for Alexander Samonov, two power-play goals, four points (1 goal, 3 assists) for Nathan Todd, and two goals for Alexander Khmelevski – in short, Salavat Yulaev delivered a perfect game on the evening of March 27th.
Young Players
Without exaggeration, the season was a breakthrough for Semyon Vyazovoy. The 22-year-old goaltender played 28 games in the regular championship and led the entire league in save percentage (93.8%) while ranking second in goals-against average (1.80). Vyazovoy also recorded five shutouts. Vyazovoy`s real time to shine came during the Gagarin Cup playoffs. Initially, the 22-year-old was behind the more experienced Alexander Samonov, but as the playoffs progressed, Semyon became the number one goalie for the Ufa team.
On defense, Yaroslav Tsulygin showed great promise. The 2004-born defender was the third-highest scoring defenseman for Salavat, accumulating 23 points (9 goals, 14 assists); Tsulygin`s plus/minus rating of +23 was also solid. 22-year-old Alexander Komarov was a regular in the main lineup, playing 56 games with an average ice time of just under 10 minutes, recording 1 goal and 7 assists with a -1 rating.
Among the forwards, 19-year-old Artyom Nabiev was noticeable; in his KHL debut season, he played 74 games and recorded 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists). Playing slightly less but also contributing offensively was 21-year-old Artyom Gorshkov, with 59 games and 3 goals and 5 assists. 19-year-old Maxim Velikov (4 games, 0+1) and 18-year-old Alexander Zharovsky (7 games, 0+1) played their first KHL games, with Zharovsky`s debut remarkably coming in the playoffs. Zharovsky even registered an assist in the first game of the semifinals.
Offseason Work
During the offseason, the team has seen the departure of Mikhail Naumenkov, Nathan Todd, and Scott Wilson, who recently signed an agreement with Sibir. Contracts have ended for Rempal and Pyotr Khokhryakov. Matvey Babenko was traded to Sochi for Ilya Fedotov. Additionally, Ufa acquired Dean Stewart from Vityaz and signed Jack Rodewald, who had performed well for Admiral. Aside from these moves, Salavat Yulaev has not been particularly active on the market so far.
Gareth Tenby