Two days after signing with CSKA Moscow, Russian winger Egor Sokolov
has been traded to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, the CSKA club announced
on Thursday.
Sokolov,
25, was traded for the KHL rights to another 25-year-old Russian
winger – Nikolai Kovalenko – who is currently a free agent.
Kovalenko split last season between the Colorado
Avalanche and San Jose Sharks.
Given
the similar profile of the two players in this one-for-one deal, the
reason the trade was made probably hinges on the possibility of each
player playing in the KHL this season. Sokolov is signed while
Kovalenko is not, and could possibly return to the NHL.
Kovalenko
was born in Raleigh, N.C. while his father, Andrei Kovalenko, played
for the Carolina Hurricanes. He
grew up in Moscow and Yaroslavl, and played in 304 KHL regular-season
and playoff games for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Ak Bars Kazan and Torpedo
between 2017 and 2024, recording 157 points.
In
57 NHL regular-season games over the past two seasons, Kovalenko has
20 points and 16 penalty minutes. He also played in two playoff games
for Colorado in 2024, recording no points.
On Tuesday, CSKA acquired Sokolov's KHL playing rights from Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg and then signed him to a one-year contract.
Utah Prospect, Ex-Sen Egor Sokolov Signs In KHL
Russian winger Egor Sokolov, 25, has signed a one-year contract with
CSKA Moscow, the
KHL club announced on Tuesday. According to the announcement,
CSKA had earlier worked out an agreement with Avtomobilist
Yetaterinberg, who had previously held Sokolov’s KHL rights.
Originally
from Yekaterinburg, a city in the foothills of the Ural Mountains on
the Asian side, Sokolov went overseas at age 17 to play junior hockey
for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL.
Sokolov was taken by the Ottawa
Senators in the second round, 61st overall in the 2020 NHL
Entry Draft. He then spent the next four seasons in the Ottawa
organization, playing 13 NHL games for the Sens in which he recorded
one goal, one assist and four penalty minutes.
Sokolov was traded last summer to Utah HC, now the Utah
Mammoth, for Czech winger Jan Jeník. He spent the entire 2024-25
season in the AHL with the
Tucson Roadrunners, where he recorded 44 points in 75 regular-season
and playoff games.
Canadian goaltender Spencer Martin, 30, has signed a two-year
contract with CSKA Moscow, the KHL club announced on Wednesday.
CSKA has been very busy over the past few days building its
2025-26 roster. In addition to the three transactions involving
Sokolov, it has also signed goaltender Spencer Martin and acquired
Denis
Zernov from
Metallurg Magnitogorsk in exchange for New
York Islanders prospect Ruslan
Iskhakov.
Last
season, CSKA and Torpedo finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in
the KHL’s Eastern Conference. Both teams were eliminated in the
first round of the playoffs.
Photo © Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images.
KHL clubs CSKA Moscow and Metallurg Magnitogorsk were involved in a
one-for-one trade involving Russian forwards on Thursday, the latter
club announced. Ruslan Iskhakov, 24, is headed to Magnitogorsk and
29-year-old Denis Zernov is headed west to the Russian capital.
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