Kontinental Hockey League team changes

Changes in the Kontinental Hockey League

From the league's inception in 2008 there have always been team changes in the Kontinental Hockey League between seasons, as some new teams have joined the league or others have left it. There is no promotion/relegation system with the VHL in place like there was with the Superleague and Vysshaya Liga. The number of teams in the league stayed at 24 throughout the first two seasons. In the third season the number of teams was reduced to 23 because Budivelnyk, a team that planned to join the league, dropped out before the start of the season.[1] Initially, Lev Poprad replaced Budivelnyk to retain the number of teams at 24.[2] However, Lev was excluded by the KHL before the start of that season,[3] but would be accepted into the league for 2011–12. The league plans to expand this number for future seasons.

The inaugural season of KHL included all 20 teams of the 2007–08 Russian Superleague. Non–Russian teams Barys Astana, Dinamo Riga and Dinamo Minsk also joined the newly formed league. Likewise, the recreated team of Khimik Voskresensk, the champion of the 2007–08 season of the Major League, joined. Thus the initial number of teams was 24.

## Team changes by season

[edit]

Season  | Teams left the league  | Fate of the team  |  | Teams joined the league  | Whence  | Number of teams in the league

|
|
|
|
|
|

2008–09 | inaugural season of competition | 24
2009–10 |  Khimik | Joined VHL |  |  Avtomobilist | VHL | 24
2010–11 |  Lada | Joined VHL |  UHC Dynamo | Newly created team by merger of Dynamo and MVD | 23
Dynamo M | Merged with MVD to form UHC Dynamo |  Yugra | VHL
MVD | Merged with Dynamo to form UHC Dynamo |
2011–12 |  Lokomotiv | Scratched from season due to plane crash |  Lev Poprad | Newly created team  | 23
2012–13 |  Lev Poprad | Disbanded  |  Slovan | Slovak Extraliga | 26
|  Donbass | VHL
Lokomotiv | Returned to KHL after plane tragedy
Lev Praha | Newly created team
2013–14 |  |  Admiral | Newly created team  | 28
Medveščak | Austrian EBEL
2014–15 |  Donbass | Joined the Ukrainian Hockey Extra League prior to the 2015–16 season, after one year of inactivity.  |  Lada Togliatti | Returned to the league  | 28
Lev Praha | Disbanded  |  Jokerit | Liiga
Spartak Moscow | Took one year off due to financial issues  |  HC Sochi | Newly created team
2015–16 |  Atlant | Folded due to financial issues.  |  Spartak Moscow | Returned to the league  | 28
2016–17 |  |  |  HC Red Star Kunlun | Newly created team  | 29
2017–18 |  Medveščak | Returned to Austrian EBEL |  | 27
Metallurg Novokuznetsk | Joined VHL
2018–19 |  Lada | Rejoined VHL |  | 25
Yugra | Joined VHL
2019–20 |  Slovan | Left league due to financial issues to attempt to rejoin Slovak Extraliga |  | 24
2020–21 |  Admiral | Took hiatus due to financial issues  |  | 23
2021–22 |  Dinamo Riga
Jokerit | Left the league due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine |  Admiral | Return to league after COVID-19 break | 22
2022–23 | no changes | 22
2023–24 |  |  Lada | Returned to the league  | 23

## Division lineup changes

[edit]

Season  | Divisions

|

Bobrov | Tarasov | Kharlamov | Chernyshev
Joined division  | Left division  | Joined division  | Left division  | Joined division  | Left division  | Joined division  | Left division
2008–09
(initial composition) |  Atlant
Dinamo Mn
Metallurg Nk
Salavat Yulaev
Severstal
Spartak |  |  CSKA
Khimik
Metallurg Mg
HC MVD
SKA
Traktor |  |  Amur
Avangard
Dinamo R
Lada
Lokomotiv
Sibir |  |  Ak Bars
Barys
Dynamo M
Neftekhimik
Torpedo
Vityaz |
2009–10
(geographical realignment) |  CSKA
Dinamo R
Dynamo M
SKA |  Atlant
Metallurg Nk
Salavat Yulaev
Severstal |  Atlant
Lokomotiv
Severstal
Torpedo
Vityaz |  CSKA
Khimik
Metallurg Mg
SKA
Traktor |  Ak Bars
Avtomobilist
Metallurg Mg
Neftekhimik
Traktor |  Amur
Avangard
Dinamo R
Lokomotiv
Sibir |  Amur
Avangard
Metallurg Nk
Salavat Yulaev
Sibir |  Ak Bars
Dynamo M
Neftekhimik
Torpedo
Vityaz
2010–11 |  UHC Dynamo |  Dinamo Mn
Dynamo M |  Dinamo Mn |  HC MVD |  Yugra |  Lada |  |
2011–12 |  Lev Poprad |  |  |  Lokomotiv |  |  |  |
2012–13 |  Donbass
Lev Praha
Slovan
Vityaz |  CSKA
Lev Poprad
Spartak |  CSKA
Lokomotiv
Spartak |  Vityaz |  |  |  |
2013–14 |  CSKA
Dinamo Mn
Medveščak |  Donbass
Dynamo M
Vityaz |  Donbass
Dynamo M
Vityaz |  CSKA
Dinamo Mn
Torpedo |  Torpedo |  |  Admiral |
2014–15[4] |  Atlant
Jokerit |  CSKA
Lev Praha |  CSKA
HC Sochi
Torpedo |  Atlant
Donbass
Spartak Moscow |  Lada |  Torpedo |  |
2015–16 |  Spartak M |  Atlant |  |  |  |  |  |
2016–17 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  HC Red Star Kunlun |
2017–18 |  |  Medveščak |  |  |  |  |  |  Metallurg Nk
2018–19 |  Dynamo M
Severstal |  Dinamo Mn
Slovan |  Dinamo Mn
Slovan |  Torpedo
Dynamo M
Severstal |  Torpedo |  Lada
Yugra |  |
2019–20[5] |  |  |  Torpedo |  Slovan |  Sibir |  Torpedo |  |  Sibir
2020–21 |  HC Sochi
Vityaz |  Dinamo R
Dynamo M |  Dinamo R
Dynamo M |  HC Sochi
Torpedo
Vityaz |  Torpedo |  Sibir |  Sibir |  Admiral
2021–22 |  Torpedo |  Severstal |  Severstal |  |  HC Red Star Kunlun |  Torpedo |  Admiral |  HC Red Star Kunlun

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Budivelnik will not play in KHL". Kontinental Hockey League. 26 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
2. ^ "HC Lev to join KHL". Kontinental Hockey League. 19 July 2010. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
3. ^ "Лев" не сыграет в ближайшем сезоне (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
4. ^ "Regular Season Format Unveiled". 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
5. ^ "League confirms structure for the new season". 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-08-08.

* v
* t
* e

Kontinental Hockey League

| Western Conference| Eastern Conference

|

Bobrov Division

SKA Saint Petersburg

Sochi

Spartak Moscow

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

Vityaz Moscow Region

Tarasov Division

CSKA Moscow

Dinamo Minsk

Dynamo Moscow

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Severstal Cherepovets

Shanghai Dragons

Kharlamov Division

Ak Bars Kazan

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

Lada Togliatti

Metallurg Magnitogorsk

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

Traktor Chelyabinsk

Chernyshev Division

Admiral Vladivostok

Amur Khabarovsk

Avangard Omsk

Barys Astana

Salavat Yulaev Ufa

Sibir Novosibirsk

Topics

Seasons|

* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25

Playoffs|

* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Junior Drafts|

* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* expansion
* 2014
* expansion
* 2015
* 2016

All-Star Games|

* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2022
* 2023
* 2025

Games and Cups|

* Gagarin Cup
* KHL Conference Finals
* Continental Cup
* Nadezhda Cup
* Opening Cup
* KHL vs NHL games

Former teams|

* Atlant Moscow Oblast
* Dinamo Riga
* Donbass
* Jokerit
* Khimik Voskresensk
* Lev Poprad
* Lev Praha
* Medveščak Zagreb
* Metallurg Novokuznetsk
* HC MVD
* Slovan Bratislava
* Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk

Related topics|

* Awards
* Alexei Cherepanov
* Best Sniper
* Faith Towards Hockey
* Golden Helmet
* List of champions
* List of goal scoring champions
* List of KHL arenas
* List of scoring champions
* KHL Players' Trade Union
* KHL territorial pick
* Potential expansion
* Rivalries in the KHL
* Team changes

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