Ice hockey: the main stories of 05.09.2026

Vancouver have tied up their best young defenceman before he ever reaches free agency: Zeev Buium, 20, has put his name to eight years at 9.38 million dollars a season, with the deal only beginning in 2027. The number matters more than the length. It sets a marker for a defenceman who has yet to play a full season as a first-pair option, and every comparable negotiation in the league will now start from that figure. Vancouver have bought the whole of his prime and accepted the risk that goes with it.

The KHL season opened with six fixtures in six cities, and the youngest men on the ice decided two of them. Lokomotiv beat Traktor 5:1, with 18-year-old Matvei Kotkov scoring the season's first goal on the 9th minute; Traktor coach Scott Gordon said afterwards, by all accounts of the same interview, that the sides played "different matches in each period". At the other end of the day Torpedo won 1:0 at Spartak through 17-year-old Sergei Skvortsov, the first player born in 2009 to appear in the league, on his debut. Alexei Zhamnov, whose side had a contract terminated as recently as 4 September, said Spartak lack "rubbish goals" — one outlet reports his words.

• Ak Bars came from 1:3 down to beat Sibir 4:3 in a shootout; Evgeni Kuznetsov scored his 100th KHL goal in defeat, and Sibir coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov said he had picked up rotavirus before the flight.
• SKA beat Lada 4:3 in overtime; Igor Larionov deflected questions about Nikita Zaitsev being placed on waivers and about his son, who has yet to sign a full contract and missed the squad.
• Salavat Yulaev beat Severstal 3:2, Avtomobilist beat Dynamo Moscow 2:1, and Torpedo forward Pavel Kraskovsky played his 700th KHL match.
• Ak Bars expect Kevin Hayes to land in Kazan tomorrow, ready to play at once, according to coach Anvar Gatiyatulin.
• One outlet reports that goalkeeper Vadim Zherenko will attend Ottawa's camp on a tryout after four seasons in St Louis's system.
• Seattle extended Jacob Melanson for 3 years at a 1.45 million cap hit; Buffalo re-signed Zach Metsa for a year at 900,000 dollars; Toronto gave Brendan Brisson a two-way deal.
• Dustin Tokarski retired at 36 and has joined Carolina as a goaltending scout.
• Calgary general manager Craig Conroy withdrew the word "relapse" over Jonathan Huberdeau, saying the forward is pain-free but short of fitness for camp.
• Vyacheslav Voinov was named Amur captain, with Oleg Li, Alexander Dergachev, Vitaly Abramov and Alexei Vasilevsky as assistants.