This review covers the 2024/2025 season for the Traktor Chelyabinsk team. Traktor reached the KHL final for the second time in their history, showcasing remarkable character and willpower on their journey.
Despite a surprising semi-final run in the 2023/2024 season, Traktor`s management decided to change the head coach. Appointing Benoit Groulx last summer was seen by many as unusual, if not questionable. Under Groulx, Chelyabinsk started the championship well, having an outstanding October with 11 wins out of 13 games, confidently taking the lead in the Eastern Conference. A slight dip occurred in December, causing Traktor to briefly drop out of the top four, but they returned to the top spot in the East in early January and remained there.
The December slump led to a significant number of trades, which was also atypical for a team consistently in the leading pack. The playoffs brought a wave of unprecedented events worthy of a sports fantasy movie. In the opening game`s second period, the heavy favorite Traktor was astonishingly down 0-3 at home against the underdog Admiral. They mounted a comeback, just falling short at 4-5 by the final buzzer. Traktor consistently trailed in the subsequent four matches, winning three of them successfully. In Game 5, they were incredibly down 0-4 midway through the third period but tied the game with just over a minute left in regulation and won in overtime. Only in the sixth game did Chelyabinsk finally score first. Throughout the entire series, they held the lead for less than an hour in total, while trailing for over two and a half hours. Despite this, they advanced.
Their next opponent was Dynamo Minsk. The score remained 0-0 for over two periods. Then, Alexander Kadeikin`s goal was quickly answered by two visitor goals within 59 seconds, holding a 1-2 lead until the final minute. Suddenly, within 22 seconds, the score flipped to 4-2 for Traktor. In the second game, Traktor again came back from 0-3. In the third game, they suffered a crushing 8-0 defeat. Oddly, this seemed to positively impact them – they won the fourth and fifth games (and the series) with difficulty, but without the accustomed nerve-wracking finishes. The semi-final against Dynamo Moscow also began with a victory after trailing 0-2. In total, across the 16 games of the first three rounds, Traktor conceded the first goal in 11 games (winning eight), and trailed by two goals in eight games (winning four, including comebacks from 0-3 and 0-4 once each). These incredible comebacks led public opinion to favor the explosive Traktor over the stable Lokomotiv, a perception that didn`t entirely align with reality. Chelyabinsk won the first game of the final series, further strengthening public belief, but subsequently lacked effective answers against the well-structured Yaroslavl team.
Best Players
Maxim Shabanov
33+54 in 86 matches
In most teams, it`s challenging to pick one standout player, but not so for Traktor; Shabanov was among the league`s best, not just his team`s best. Maxim struggled significantly only in the final four matches – arguably, this was the key factor limiting Chelyabinsk`s chances in the final series. Before that, he was truly dominant. His impact wasn`t just in personal scoring, but in his overall effectiveness, which was astounding: in 17 games against Admiral, Dynamo Minsk and Moscow, and Lokomotiv (in the first game of the final), Chelyabinsk scored 54 goals and conceded 47. When Shabanov was on the ice, the goal differential was an incredible 28-5 (he scored ten and assisted on ten others), compared to 26-42 when he was on the bench. Such a clear demonstration of dominance by a player on a successful team is truly rare.
Grigory Dronov
19+24 in 80 matches
Dronov was already a notable defenseman at Metallurg and had national team experience, but he reached a significantly higher level at Traktor, particularly offensively. His previous career highs were 19 points in the regular season and 25 for the entire season; this year, he recorded 31 and 43 respectively. In the second round, Grigory suffered an injury, missed one game, and played the rest of the playoffs with additional facial protection and needing pain management. This did not prevent him from being Traktor`s second-leading scorer in the playoffs and the top-scoring defenseman for the entire season.
Zach Fucale
70 matches, 40 wins, 92% save percentage, 2.27 GAA
Fucale shoulders some responsibility for the tense moments in the series against Admiral and the first half against Dynamo Minsk. However, both series ended positively for Traktor, thanks in large part to his performance. Even more significant was Zach`s contribution to Chelyabinsk winning the Eastern Conference; he recorded nine shutouts in the regular season, a league-leading feat unmatched by any other goalie.
Coach
Last summer, Benoit Groulx`s appointment was met with considerable skepticism. This was partly because he replaced Alexei Zavarukhin, who had surprisingly led Traktor to the semi-finals against expectations. It was also due to Groulx`s relatively modest previous success, primarily at the junior level (World Juniors gold with Canada and two QMJHL titles), with his last major win being almost a decade prior. The choice of Raphael Richer, a largely unknown assistant, further amplified the initial doubts.
In the preseason, the revamped Traktor earned the most points, which few found convincing. A powerful October performance somewhat reduced the number of skeptics. In December, they briefly felt their initial concerns were justified, but then their doubts seemed to vanish. They only briefly resurfaced during the tense series against Admiral and Dynamo Minsk.
In summary, Groulx`s KHL debut was undeniably brilliant, and the final series loss in no way diminished this achievement. The already strong Traktor team from the previous year significantly improved, and remarkably quickly. This transformation happened twice, in fact: during that same December, Groulx efficiently integrated a large number of new players into the team structure. He constantly adjusted line combinations and achieved positive results. And the impressive comebacks in games where they fell behind were a highlight unto themselves.
Best Game
Among Traktor`s many exciting games, Game 5 of the series against Admiral stands out. In KHL history, a four-goal playoff comeback had only happened twice before – in 2012 and 2019. But this game was unique even among those, as Chelyabinsk began their rally with only 12 minutes remaining in regulation time.
Young Players
The vast majority of Traktor`s players are in their prime: only two are over 33, and only three are under 23 (plus seven others who combined played just 36 games). Among the three youngest, 19-year-old Alexander Rykov played 34 games with an average ice time of about nine minutes, while 22-year-old Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer had 37 games with about 11 minutes. Only 21-year-old Arseniy Koromyslov, one of the “December” additions, became a full-fledged regular. He started the season on loan at Lada, performed well, was recalled by SKA, and then traded to Traktor before the deadline. He scored a goal for each of the three teams (two for Traktor), a feat no other defenseman had accomplished in a single season before.
Offseason Work
It appears Traktor is preparing for another significant roster restructuring. Shabanov, as a restricted free agent, is reportedly awaiting an offer from Philadelphia. Fucale has moved to Dynamo Minsk, Artyom Blazhiyevsky to Avangard, Nikita Korostelev to Spartak, and Vladimir Tkachev to Sibir. Steven Kampfer has retired, and Charles Robinson was not offered a new contract.
Chelyabinsk quickly addressed the goaltending situation by signing Chris Driedger, who is expected to perform at least as well as Fucale. The defense has been reinforced by 50% with Jordan Gross from Dynamo Minsk, but the forward situation is more challenging. Yegor Korshkov has been signed from Ak Bars, and Andrey Nikonov was acquired from Sochi via trade. However, even after balancing acquisitions and departures, finding an equivalent replacement for Shabanov will be very difficult.
Gareth Tenby