How Many Former NHL Players Like Kevin Hayes Have Contracts in Russia? Puck Drop

Hockey has taken former Boston College forward Kevin Hayes to a wide range of places in North America thanks to stints with the New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins, and even internationally having played for Team USA at three world championships.

But this season will be unlike anything he’s experienced before. On Tuesday, AK Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League announced that the free-agent forward had signed one-year deal for 2026-27. At age 34, he’ll be playing in a 22-team league that is largely based in Russia, but also sports a team each in Belarus, Kazakhstan and China. The teams furthest apart are more than 4,000 miles apart.

As for why he would do so, the reasons seem pretty obvious. Last season, Hayes had four goals and four assists while playing in just 28 games with the Penguins as his seven-year contract worth $50 million expired. Over 12 seasons and 805 career games he had totaled 446 points (185 goals and 261 assists) after being drafted 24th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010.

The KHL, which has already opened training camps and will start its season Sept. 5, is considered somewhere between the National Hockey and the American Hockey League. That’s both in terms of overall talent and pay. Plus, the AHL has a rule that teams may only dress a maximum of six veterans 25 or older for games (goaltenders are exempt), in order to keep it primarily a developmental league.

So off Hayes goes, to play for the team based in Kazan, Tatarsta, and lost in the championship of last year’s Gagarin Cup Finals to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Yeah, it’s going to be really different.

Hayes’ decision may not be typical but is hardly unique. In 2023-24 there were 23 active Americans playing the KHL, and 58 Canadians. It’s estimated that roughly 500 former NHL players playing abroad last season in leagues like Switzerland's National League, and Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

They just aren't players heading home, though, like Russians Alexander Radulov, Nikita Guse, and Vadim Shipachyov, in the KHL. Or Czech winger Jaromír Jágr, who is second in NHL history in career points after playing 24 years in the league. He successfully extended his career past the age of 50 another nine seasons with Rytíři Kladno Czech Republic Hockey League. Last season with his 38th, but despite being 54 has not officially retired.

More typical of an American or Canadian heading to Russia is Andrew Poturalski. He grew up in New York, started to make a name for himself at the junior level in the Ontario Hockey League, and then headed to New Hampshire. In 2015–16, Poturalski led the Wildcats and Hockey East in scoring with 52 points in just 37 games and was named a Hobey Baker finalist.

Poturalski turned pro early, singed two-year entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes and started to work his way through the minors. He’s led the AHL in scoring three times (becoming just the third player to do so), won the Calder Cup twice, and in 2024-25 was named the league’s most valuable player after tallying 73 points, including a career-high 30 goals, in 59 games for the San Jose Barracuda.

But over the course of a decade, he had three cups of coffee in the NHL, playing nine games between the Hurricanes, Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks. In 2025, he was released from his contract with the Sharks (two years, $1,6 million), and signed with Avangard Omsk of the KHL.

Sheesh, Andrew Poturalski 🥵 pic.twitter.com/rjFAfmABqb
— KHL (@khl_eng) December 28, 2025

Last season, at the age of 32, he had 27 goals and 39 assists for 66 points, and then notched four goals and nine assists in 17 playoff games. There was only one other American on his team, Joseph Cecconi out of Michigan, and one Canadian.

According to The Hockey News, he was one of 30 players who had played a significant portion of the 2024-25 season in the AHL to sign with a KHL team for the 2025-26 season. Of those, Poturalski was one of 14 former college players to make the very long jump.

Name, Pos., College, KHL Team
Brandon Biro, F, Penn State, Ak Bars Kazan
Jake Bischoff, D, Minnesota, Shanghai Dragons
Joseph Cecconi, D, Michigan, Avangard Omsk
Rhett Gardner, F, North Dakota, CSKA Moskva
Rocco Grimaldi, F, North Dakota, SKA St. Petersburg
Alex Limoges, F, Penn State, Dinamo Minsk
Jake Massie, D, Vermont, Barys Astana
Mason Morelli, F, Omaha, Barys Astana
Chase Priskie, D, Quinnipiac, Sibir Novosibirsk
Andrew Poturalski, F, New Hampshire, Avangard Omsk
Nate Sucese, F, Penn State, Shanghai Dragons
Tyce Thompson, F, Providence, Barys Astana
Mike Vecchione, F, Union, Barys Astana
Reilly Walsh, D, Harvard, Barys Astana

Puck Drop: Wednesday, August 26, 2026

° The name of the Arizona State player who collapsed last Thursday was revealed, defenseman Matthew Mayich, a transfer from Clarkson. AZCentral reported that the 21-year-old sophomore and St. Louis Blues prospect is in a coma following a “cardiac event,” and remains in critical condition. On Tuesday, a virtual prayer service for him was held by the Canadian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce.

• Michigan officially named Chris Lazary named Associate Head Coach. He had spent the last 10 seasons with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League, including seven as the head coach.

• RPI named Matt Nicholson an assistant coach. The former Colgate defenseman and previously been an assistant coach at Bowling Green, Niagara and Robert Morris.

• Former North Dakota goalie Peter Thome was named the Minnesota Wild’s first full-time emergency backup and also serve as a hockey operations analyst.

• A day after Guelph Storm (OHL) general manager George Burnett announced that Leo Serlin will not be reporting to the team’s training camp and will be pursuing an NCAA opportunity, the forward committed to RPI and is expected to be on the 2026-27 roster. Some other last-minute additions include center Cristian Giancola, who finished last season with Haliburton County in the OJHL, to Clarkson; area prospect John Hirschfeld, a forward is joining St. Cloud State after being previously committed to Vermont; forward Nicholas Sykora (Owen Sound Attack, OHL) is joining Western Michigan.

• The PWHL announced that the missing Walter Cup trophy has been found. It didn’t arrive last week in Lethbridge, Alberta., where Montreal Victoire forward Dara Greig (Wisconsin) was supposed to have her day with the trophy.

Montreal’s Walter Cup went missing in transit.

The PWHL issued a statement saying the trophy "did not arrive as expected at its latest stop," and added "we are working closely with the shipping company to locate it."

The Cup was supposed to arrive in Lethbridge, Alberta. pic.twitter.com/hQUGwUsigt
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 22, 2026

Recruiting Rundown

There’s been a flood of recruiting activity over the last two days, especially with commitments for the 2027-28 season. It included Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll, a likely first-round draft prospect out of Utah who will play for Medicine Hat (WHL) this season, committing to Michigan. Here’s a list, including the year if not for 2027-28.

Army: D John Crawford, Blackfalds (BCHL)
Augustana: LW Tyden Bergeson, Penticton (WHL); D Noah Mannausau, Sioux Falls (USHL); G Charles Menard, Lincoln (USHL); RW Cooper Moore, Kamloops (WHL)
Bemidji State: RW Bryce Bryant, Cowichan Valley (BCHL); RW Sullivan Miller, Cedar Rapids (USHL); LW Brett Wilson, Brandon Wheat (WHL)
Boston College: D Sam Wathier, Windsor (OHL), 2027-28
Boston University: C Liam Lefebvre, Cape Breton Eagles (QMJHL), 2027-28*
Bowling Green: LW Jake Crawford, Owen Sound (OHL); D Cam Hankai, Brantford (OHL), 2028-29; RW Joseph Sinclair, Brantford (OHL), 2027-28
Clarkson: C Matt Gosselin, Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL)
Connecticut: D Shayne Gould, Moncton (QMJHL); D Carl-Otto Magnusson, Nanaimo (BCHL); RW Thomas Rousseau, Sherbrooke (QMJHL), 2027-28; RW William Schneid (Barrie (OHL)
Harvard: C Ayden Heron, Lawrenceville (NJ HS)
Massachusetts: C Thomas Belzil, Rimouski (QMJHL); C Owen Boucher, Cedar Rapids (USHL); RW Jordan Charron, Soo (OHL); RW Brody Cook, London (OHL); D Felix Farhammer, Muskegon (USHL); D Torkel Jennersjo, Blainville-Boisbriand (USHL); D Tomas Mikel, Des Moines (USHL); C Tyler Wood, West Kent (MJAH)
Maine: C Jaxon Cook, Gentry Academy (Minn. H.S.), 2029-30
Michigan: C Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll, Medicine Hat (WHL);
Northern Michigan: D Carter Dekay, Cowichan Valley (BCHL); D Reece Gault, Green Bay (USHL); D Isa Guram, Kamloops (WHL); D Avery Laliberte, Portland (WHL); LW Luc Plante, Erie (OHL);); G Miles Roberts, Fairbanks (NAHL); RW Rio Treharne, Madison (USHL); RW Owen Warnick, Victoria (BCHL)
North Dakota: RW Eli McKamey, Try-City (WHL), 2027-28
Ohio State: D Ronan Buckberger, Penticton (WHL); LW Mason Jenson, Des Moines (USHL); RW Jake Merens, Sioux City (USHL);
Penn State: G Mason Courville, Flint (OHL), 2028-29; LW Pierce Mbuyi, Owen Sound (OHL)
Wisconsin: F Eetu Orpana, Dubuque (USHL)

*Flip from Vermont

Countdown to the 2026-27 Season

… 37 days

Hockey Quote of the Day

"My first goal? Survival. We had midnight practices. I taught high school. I had to get up at 6:00 a.m. I would get home. By the time I got to bed, it was 3 a.m. Sleep 3 to 6, go to my job, get home. The teaching job and Quinnipiac was 70 miles apart, if I remember that correctly. Then I would sleep 3 to 6 p.m., get up, go down, recruit, midnight practice. That first year was tough. It was all survival. And I think I won one game. I think it was 1-12-1 after 14 games. I was like, 'What? What am I doing, for nothing?' But I loved it. I knew we'd get better. In year two we brought in 19 freshmen, and we were off and running. My fifth year we went Division I."
Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold

This Date in Hockey History

August 26, 1955: Steve Carlson, who had a brief CHL career and played one of the Hanson Brothers in the movie Slap Shot, was born in Virginia, Minn.

August 26, 1961: The Hockey Hall of Fame’s newest class included Maurice Richard, George Hainsworth, Syl Apps, Charlie Conacher, Hap Day, Milt Schmidt, Joe Hall, Percy LeSueur and Oliver Seibert.

August 26, 1971: The Boston Bruins signed defenseman Bobby Orr to the first $1 million contract in NHL history. It was for five years, $200,000 annually,

August 26, 1971: The Hockey Hall of Fame added Harvey “Busher” Jackson, Gordon Roberts, Terry Sawchuk, Cooney Weiland and owner Arthur Wirtz.

August 26, 1976: The Class of 1976 for the Hockey Hall of Fame included Johnny Bower, Bill Quackenbush, William Wirtz, Jack Gibson and Philip Ross. What stood out was that only the first two were players.

August 26, 1981: Ferris State center Greg Rallo was born in Gurnee, Ill.

August 26, 1982: Harvard defenseman Noah Welch was born in Brighton, Mass.

August 26, 1984: Bowling Green center Alex Foster was born in Canton, Mich.

August 26, 1990: UConn left winger Cole Schneider was born in Williamsville, N.Y.

August 26, 1990: Lake Superior State defenseman Zach Troyman was born in Carmel, Ind.

August 26, 1996: Denver center Dylan Gambrell was born in Bonney Lake, Wash.

August 26, 1998: Hall of Fame forward Mike Gartner retired after 19 seasons and 1,432 games in the NHL. Gartner totaled 708 goals, 627 assists and 1,335 career points,

We'll Leave You With This ...

We know you've been waiting for this one 👀

Our 2026-27 schedule is here: https://t.co/ogkWrzVd7h pic.twitter.com/drcIejcDGi
— Northeastern Men’s Hockey (@GoNUmhockey) August 21, 2026

Add us as a preferred source on Google