Ice calculation: the hero of the World Cup moved to Traktor and lost the national team

June turned out to be rich in deals involving KHL clubs, which are actively strengthening after the opening of the transfer window. In the second half of the month, the most high-profile signing was the transfer of Norwegian goalkeeper Henrik Haukeland to Traktor Chelyabinsk. The goalkeeper helped his national team achieve its historic first World Cup medal this spring, but now he will not be able to play for the national team due to his transfer to a Russian club.

Haukeland — the price of choice

After February 2022, when legionnaires began to leave the KHL en masse, this flow quickly stopped with Americans and Canadians, who after six months began to come to our country again willingly. The Slovaks also continued to play in the league.

At the same time, the Finnish, Swedish, Czech and Latvian markets for the KHL have practically closed. The national federations of these countries have banned hockey players who have signed contracts with league clubs from being called up to the national teams. Sometimes the restrictions did not apply to Astana's Barys and applied only to Russian and Belarusian teams. A number of other European federations, including Norway, have taken a similar position.

Therefore, when goalkeeper Henrik Haukeland signed a two-year deal with Traktor, it was quickly announced in Norway that he would not play for the national team until returning from Russia. This was publicly confirmed by the general manager of the national team Patrick Thoresen, a former striker of Ufa "Salavat Yulaev" and St. Petersburg SKA.

The 31-year-old Haukeland has played for European clubs throughout his career — in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Germany. He became the Swedish champion twice, was recognized as the player of the season there and in Germany, and in 2020 was named the best hockey player in Norway.

But his main achievement happened last spring. Henrik was the main goalkeeper of the national team at the World Cup in Switzerland. There, Norway reached the semifinals and won the bronze medals, becoming the winner of the world championship for the first time in history. Haukeland was the main star of the team and won the prize for the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

For Traktor, finding a strong goalkeeper was one of the key tasks of the offseason. A year ago, the club made a bet on Canadian Chris Driger, a once promising goalkeeper who has not shown his previous level in recent years. He failed to restart his career in Russia.

After a series of unsuccessful matches in the middle of the season, the contract with Driger was terminated. Now Chelyabinsk is counting on getting a player comparable in level to another Canadian, Zach Fucale. He played for Traktor in 2023-2025 and, together with the team, first reached the semifinals of the Gagarin Cup, and then the finals. Last summer, the club's general manager Alexei Volkov did not agree with Fukale on a new contract, after which the goalkeeper moved to Dinamo Minsk.

According to Sport-Express, Haukeland's salary in Chelyabinsk will amount to 55 million rubles per year. Interestingly, Volkov tried to invite the Norwegian to the KHL a few years ago, when he worked as the general manager of Omsk Avangard. Now he has managed to bring a goalkeeper to Russia at the peak of his career.

Haukeland's decision caused a contradictory reaction in the Norwegian media and social networks. Many condemn him for moving to Russia, but there are also many who respect the player's right to choose his own place of work, especially when it comes to a serious financial offer. Some fans believe that the federation has deprived the national team of a strong goalkeeper because of its political position. Others believe that Haukeland would hardly have been able to repeat such an outstanding performance as at the last World Cup anyway.

— It is quite logical that a player who is already over 30 years old wanted to try himself at a higher level, besides earning more money than he was paid in Europe, — Vladimir Krikunov, the former head coach of the Russian national team, told Izvestia. — It is obvious that the KHL is now the second club championship in the world after the NHL and is much higher in level than Germany, Sweden, Finland and even more so Norway. The fact that someone denies Haukeland his wish and imposes a sanction in the form of suspension from the national team for a trip to Russia speaks only about Norwegian officials and once again reminds us how everything was politicized in Europe, including sports. But that's their business. And it's important for us that this goalkeeper strengthens Traktor and beautifies our league. If he plays like he did at the last World Cup, then it's a great signing.

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Barabanov — transfer with ambitions

In the second half of June, several more notable signings took place. Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg continues to strengthen the squad under the new head coach Alexei Kudashov. The other day, the Ural club signed a contract with striker Alexander Barabanov.

A native of St. Petersburg, he played for his native SKA for a long time, where he won the Gagarin Cup twice (2015, 2017), and in the second case as a solid foundation player. In 2017 and 2019, the 31-year-old striker won the bronze medal at the World Championships with the Russian national team, and in 2018 he became Olympic champion with it.

In 2020-2024, Barabanov played in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks. Two years ago, he returned to Russia, having signed a contract with Ak Bars Kazan. Last season, he reached the Gagarin Cup final with him. Earlier, two more strong Russian forwards joined Avtomobilist — Alexander Kadeikin, last year's Gagarin Cup finalist with Traktor, and Anton Slepyshev, a silver medalist at the 2022 Olympics, a three-time Gagarin Cup winner with CSKA, who played for Dynamo Moscow in the last two years.

Comtois — old conflict, new team

The 2021 World champion joined the Canadian national team in the KHL two years ago. Even overseas, Maxime Comtois was known not only for his ability to score, but also for his forceful manner: he is able to provoke an opponent, impose a fight and, if necessary, fight. It was these qualities that came in handy for Dynamo Moscow.

Thanks in large part to the Comtois, the blue and white team reached the semifinals of the Gagarin Cup in 2025, their best result in the last 13 years. However, in the second season, the Canadian did not look so bright. This can partly be explained by the departure of two people who played an important role in his adaptation.

Sports director Alexey Sopin, who initiated the signing of the Comtois, left Dynamo in February 2025. Head coach Alexei Kudashov was dismissed in November. By the end of the season, the Canadian was increasingly being blamed for his lack of dedication, so it was not surprising that the club began to look for exchange options.

As a result, in the second half of June, he moved to Spartak, and the blue and white team received Nikita Korostelev, a talented red and white striker. Interestingly, back in the summer of 2024, after joining Dynamo, Comtois had a tough fight at the Moscow Mayor's pre-season Cup with Spartak forward Ivan Morozov.

Since then, they have not shaken hands, although this procedure is mandatory after KHL matches. Morozov is still at Spartak. And it is not yet known how their long-standing conflict within the team will affect them.

"Maybe they'll fight in the locker room now and let off steam," suggested Alexander Kozhevnikov, a two—time Olympic champion and former Spartak striker. — It's not uncommon for two players to clash within the same team. The main thing is that this does not negatively affect the results, so that he and Morozov are in the same boat in games and training. As it is, the acquisition of Comtois is good for the club. Spartak has too many offensive players, too many technical guys. But we also need a power hockey player who can fight, interfere with the opponent, who will make partners emotionally and exert pressure throughout the court. Spartak lacked just such a player in previous seasons.

Also recently, Yaroslav Likhachev, the striker of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, left his hometown club and again went on loan to Amur Khabarovsk, where he spent his best season of his career a few years ago.