Former Spartak Moscow striker Kirill Knyazev shared his thoughts in a recent interview, praising the Kontinental Hockey League’s decision to trial crossover playoffs in the 2023/24 season. He noted that the innovation injected new energy into the postseason format, making the quarterfinal pairings more unpredictable and compelling than in previous years.
According to Knyazev, the shift has clear benefits. When the top teams from the East and West meet in the same playoff brackets, fans get a fresh sequence of matchups, and every series carries heightened excitement. He emphasized that if only Eastern teams reach the Gagarin Cup, the competition remains intense and meaningful, but the real novelty lies in the West-on-West crossover dynamics this season, which broke the usual predictability of the bracket. In his view, these changes keep the Gagarin Cup compelling for a broad hockey audience and for players who crave dynamic, high-stakes competition. (via Kirill Knyazev interview)
The season marked a historic moment in the KHL as both of the previous season’s Gagarin Cup finalists failed to advance beyond the first round in the following campaign. CSKA Moscow, the defending champions, fell to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the 1/8 finals, with a fifth game decided by 6:3 in favor of the Yaroslavl club. Meanwhile, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg defeated CSKA’s successor in the Ak Bars series, clinching the series with a 4-1 record. The decisive fifth game ended 2:1, underscoring how fragile defending champions can be in the taiga of post-season pressure. These outcomes underscored the unpredictability of the new playoff structure and the broader shift in competitive balance this season. (via Kirill Knyazev interview)
Beyond these playoff surprises, the broader narrative around the league includes notable statistical achievements by players across franchises. It was reported that Nikita Kucherov, who has become a cornerstone for his team, set a club record by recording the most games with four or more assists in a single season. This milestone added another layer to a campaign already filled with dramatic turnarounds, clutch performances, and evolving tactical approaches across the KHL. (via Kirill Knyazev interview)