Brendan Leipsic Finds New KHL Team

Canadian left winger Brendan Leipsic, 31, has signed a contract to play the remainder of the current season with SKA St. Petersburg, the KHL club announced on Sunday.

A former NHLer, Lepsic has played in the KHL since 2020 but has been without a contract since the end of last season. This will be his second tour of duty in St. Petersburg, having previously played there during the 2023-24 season.

Leipsic, who hails from Winnipeg, played junior hockey for the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and was chosen in the third round, 89th overall, by the Nashville Predators in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. From 2014 until 2020, he recorded 59 points and 53 penalty minutes in 187 NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals.

In May 2020, the Capitals terminated Leipsic’s contract after his misogynistic comments in an online chat group were leaked to the public.

Former Shark, Canuck Claimed Off Waivers In KHL Russian winger Nikolai Goldobin, 29, has been claimed off KHL waivers by SKA St. Petersburg, the KHL website announced on Monday. He had been waived by Spartak Moscow, the club for which he’d played the past two seasons.

Leipsic has played in the KHL continuously since 2020 for CSKA Moscow, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, SKA, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg and Sibir Novosibirsk, recording 170 points in 286 regular-season and playoff games. During the 2024-25 season, he was traded from Avtomobilist to Sibir and had 24 points across 61 games with both teams.

Leipsic joins an SKA team that currently sits eighth in the KHL’s 11-team Western Conference with 10 wins in 23 games. The team’s roster includes ex-NHLers Nikita Zaitsev, Rocco Grimaldi and Nikolai Goldobin and is coached by Hall-of-Famer Igor Larionov.

Igor Larionov Jr. To Play For Father In KHL American-Russian center Igor Larionov Jr., 26, has signed a one-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg, the KHL club announced on social media on Wednesday.