# 2019–20 KHL season

The 2019–20 KHL season was the 12th season of the Kontinental Hockey League. There were 24 teams that competed in 62 regular season games. The season began with the Opening Cup on 1 September 2019, and the regular championship ran until 27 February 2020. The playoffs were scheduled to take place from 1 March through until 30 April. The All-Star Weekend took place over 18–19 January 2020.
Due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the season was prematurely ended on 25 March 2020, midway through the playoffs.
The Russian Hockey Federation declared CSKA Moscow the Russian champions, SKA Saint Petersburg and Ak Bars Kazan silver medalists, and Dynamo Moscow bronze medalists based on regular season standings.

## Season changes

For the 2019–20 season, the KHL originally announced that all 25 teams from the 2018–19 would return and continue without any changes to Divisions realignments. However the competition was reduced to 24 teams after Slovak based, HC Slovan Bratislava, announced that they would be withdrawing from the KHL to return to the Slovak Extraliga due to financial restrictions on 27 May 2019. With Slovan Bratislava's exit, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod were moved from the Eastern Conference, to the Western Conference, reversing the move of the previous season. As a result, both Conferences consisted of 12 teams.

### KHL World Games

The KHL announced the World Games project would continue for a second consecutive season with more information to be announced in July 2019. With the release of the season's schedule, new destinations of Davos, Shenzhen and Almaty were scheduled to host games.

### Smart pucks

Smart puck technology, backed up with chips in players' jerseys, was used in all KHL games in the coming season. The new technology was trialled in the All-Star Game in Kazan last season and was also used in regular season games in Helsinki. Every arena in the league installed sensors capable of collecting information from the chips 100 times a second. That information was available to various users and coaches in real time, giving-up-to-the-second details of the players’ speed, the distance covered in each shift, the speed and location of each shot and much more.
The KHL is the first league in the world to implement this technology across the board.

## Teams

The 24 teams were split into four divisions: the Bobrov Division and the Tarasov Division as part of the Western Conference, with the Kharlamov Division and the Chernyshev Division as part of the Eastern Conference.
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference |
| Bobrov Division | Tarasov Division | Kharlamov Division | Chernyshev Division |
| Dinamo Riga | CSKA Moscow | Ak Bars Kazan | Admiral Vladivostok |
| Dynamo Moscow | Dinamo Minsk | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | Amur Khabarovsk |
| Jokerit | HC Sochi | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | Avangard Omsk |
| Severstal Cherepovets | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | Barys Nur-Sultan |
| SKA Saint Petersburg | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | Sibir Novosibirsk | Kunlun Red Star |
| Spartak Moscow | Vityaz Podolsk | Traktor Chelyabinsk | Salavat Yulaev Ufa |

## League standings

Each team played 62 games, playing their divisional opponents four times, non-divisional conference rivals three times, and non-conference opponents twice.
Points were awarded for each game, where two points were awarded for all victories, regardless of whether it was in regulation time, in overtime or after game-winning shots. One point was awarded for losing in overtime or game-winning shots, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the Continental Cup winner.

### Western Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | CSKA Moscow (Q, Z) | 62 | 40 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 202 | 99 | +103 | 94 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 2 | SKA Saint Petersburg (Q, X) | 62 | 30 | 14 | 5 | 13 | 179 | 118 | +61 | 93 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 3 | Jokerit (Q) | 62 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 184 | 164 | +20 | 84 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | Dynamo Moscow (Q) | 62 | 29 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 182 | 144 | +38 | 82 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 5 | Spartak Moscow (Q) | 62 | 26 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 173 | 143 | +30 | 77 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 6 | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Q) | 62 | 25 | 9 | 5 | 23 | 170 | 151 | +19 | 73 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 7 | Vityaz Podolsk (Q) | 62 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 24 | 137 | 166 | −29 | 65 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 8 | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Q) | 62 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 27 | 165 | 167 | −2 | 64 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 9 | HC Sochi (E) | 62 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 28 | 124 | 164 | −40 | 59 | |
| 10 | Severstal Cherepovets (E) | 62 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 126 | 171 | −45 | 58 | |
| 11 | Dinamo Riga (E) | 62 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 38 | 103 | 187 | −84 | 41 | |
| 12 | Dinamo Minsk (E) | 62 | 11 | 3 | 11 | 37 | 135 | 232 | −97 | 39 | |
* ↑ Teams leading a division hold one of the first two places of their conference.

### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ak Bars Kazan (Q, Y) | 62 | 38 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 178 | 121 | +57 | 93 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 2 | Barys Nur-Sultan (Q, X) | 62 | 31 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 156 | 137 | +19 | 84 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 3 | Avangard Omsk (Q) | 62 | 30 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 163 | 120 | +43 | 83 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (Q) | 62 | 24 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 168 | 151 | +17 | 78 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 5 | Sibir Novosibirsk (Q) | 62 | 27 | 7 | 6 | 22 | 139 | 143 | −4 | 74 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 6 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Q) | 62 | 23 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 153 | 144 | +9 | 68 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 7 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Q) | 62 | 20 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 138 | 145 | −7 | 65 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 8 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Q) | 62 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 26 | 162 | 158 | +4 | 64 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 9 | Amur Khabarovsk (E) | 62 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 132 | 145 | −13 | 62 | |
| 10 | Kunlun Red Star (E) | 62 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 28 | 139 | 158 | −19 | 60 | |
| 11 | Traktor Chelyabinsk (E) | 62 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 132 | 161 | −29 | 56 | |
| 12 | Admiral Vladivostok (E) | 62 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 32 | 126 | 177 | −51 | 56 | |
* ↑ Teams leading a division hold one of the first two places of their conference.

## Gagarin Cup playoffs

Ak Bars Kazan were the Eastern Conference regular season winners with 93 points. It was determined following a 5–3 victory over closest challengers Avangard Omsk at TatNeft Arena. CSKA Moscow were the Western Conference regular season winners, and winners of the Continental Cup with 94 points. It was determined following a 6–0 victory over HC Sochi at CSKA Arena.
| Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | | | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | | Gagarin Cup Finals |
| 1 | Ak Bars | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Neftekhimik | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Neftekhimik | 0 | | | 1 | Ak Bars | | | | | |
| | | | | | 6 | Salavat Yulaev | | | | | |
| 2 | Barys | 4 | | | 6 | Salavat Yulaev | | | | | |
| 7 | Metallurg | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | 5 | Sibir | | |
| 3 | Avangard | 2 | | | | | | | | 5 | Sibir | |
| 6 | Salavat Yulaev | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Salavat Yulaev | 4 | | | 2 | Barys | | | | | |
| | | | | | 5 | Sibir | w/o | | | | |
| 4 | Avtomobilist | 1 | | | 5 | Sibir | w/o | | | | |
| 5 | Sibir | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Sibir | 4 | | | | | | | | | E |
| | | | | | | | | | | | W |
| 1 | CSKA | 4 | | | | | | | | | | W |
| 8 | Torpedo | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Torpedo | 0 | | | 1 | CSKA | | | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Dynamo | | | | | |
| 2 | SKA | 4 | | | 4 | Dynamo | | | | | |
| 7 | Vityaz | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | 2 | SKA | | |
| 3 | Jokerit | 4 | | | | | | | | 2 | SKA | |
| 6 | Lokomotiv | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Lokomotiv | 2 | | | 2 | SKA | w/o | | | | |
| | | | | | 3 | Jokerit | | | | | |
| 4 | Dynamo | 4 | | | 3 | Jokerit | | | | | |
| 5 | Spartak | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
* ↑ On 16 March 2020, Barys voluntarily withdrew from the playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* ↑ On 14 March 2020, Jokerit voluntarily withdrew from the playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Final standings

Following the announcement that the season was prematurely ended on 25 March 2020, a decision of the final league standings was announced to be made at a later date. On 7 May 2020, it was announced that the eight teams that had qualified for the second round of the playoffs would be ranked ex aequo.
At the same time, the Russian Hockey Federation declared CSKA Moscow the Russian champions, SKA Saint Petersburg and Ak Bars Kazan silver medalists, and Dynamo Moscow bronze medalists based on regular season standings.
| Rank | Team |
| 1–8 | Ak Bars Kazan |
| 1–8 | Barys Nur-Sultan |
| 1–8 | CSKA Moscow |
| 1–8 | Dynamo Moscow |
| 1–8 | Jokerit |
| 1–8 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa |
| 1–8 | Sibir Novosibirsk |
| 1–8 | SKA Saint Petersburg |
| 9 | Avangard Omsk |
| 10 | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg |
| 11 | Spartak Moscow |
| 12 | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl |
| 13 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk |
| 14 | Vityaz Podolsk |
| 15 | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod |
| 16 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk |
| 17 | Amur Khabarovsk |
| 18 | Kunlun Red Star |
| 19 | HC Sochi |
| 20 | Severstal Cherepovets |
| 21 | Traktor Chelyabinsk |
| 22 | Admiral Vladivostok |
| 23 | Dinamo Riga |
| 24 | Dinamo Minsk |

## Statistics
### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Vadim Shipachyov | Dynamo Moscow | 61 | 17 | 48 | 65 | +34 | 28 |
| Dmitrij Jaškin | Dynamo Moscow | 58 | 31 | 32 | 63 | +34 | 75 |
| Kirill Kaprizov | CSKA Moscow | 57 | 33 | 29 | 62 | +32 | 10 |
| Linus Omark | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 59 | 12 | 42 | 54 | –1 | 36 |
| Nigel Dawes | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | 59 | 20 | 30 | 50 | –5 | 13 |
| Mikko Lehtonen | Jokerit | 60 | 17 | 32 | 49 | +26 | 20 |
| Nikita Soshnikov | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 58 | 27 | 21 | 48 | –2 | 28 |
| Brian O'Neill | Jokerit | 56 | 19 | 29 | 48 | +17 | 18 |
| Linden Vey | CSKA Moscow | 52 | 13 | 35 | 48 | +22 | 47 |
| Brooks Macek | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | 61 | 24 | 22 | 46 | -3 | 22 |

### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team(s) | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Lars Johansson | CSKA Moscow | 23 | 1370:30 | 17 | 6 | 32 | 6 | 93.25% | 1.40 |
| Timur Bilyalov | Ak Bars Kazan | 32 | 1652:14 | 19 | 4 | 40 | 8 | 94.34% | 1.45 |
| Ilya Sorokin | CSKA Moscow | 40 | 2364:49 | 26 | 10 | 59 | 9 | 93.50% | 1.50 |
| Alexander Samonov | Vityaz PodolskSKA Saint Petersburg | 25 | 1428:32 | 19 | 1 | 36 | 4 | 94.66% | 1.51 |
| Magnus Hellberg | SKA Saint Petersburg | 26 | 1443:15 | 14 | 7 | 41 | 3 | 92.65% | 1.70 |
| Igor Bobkov | Avangard Omsk | 48 | 2815:51 | 25 | 16 | 81 | 5 | 93.24% | 1.73 |
| Vasily Koshechkin | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 49 | 2687:12 | 18 | 20 | 87 | 6 | 93.31% | 1.94 |
| Ivan Bocharov | Dynamo Moscow | 49 | 2638:43 | 26 | 13 | 87 | 6 | 93.47% | 1.98 |
| Alexei Krasikov | Sibir Novosibirsk | 30 | 1403:56 | 10 | 11 | 47 | 2 | 93.52% | 2.01 |
| Evgeny Alikin | Amur Khabarovsk | 40 | 2246:36 | 15 | 13 | 76 | 7 | 93.65% | 2.03 |

## Awards
### Players of the Month

Best KHL players of each month.
| Month | Goaltender | Defence | Forward | Rookie |
| September | Alexei Melnichuk (SKA Saint Petersburg) | Mikael Wikstrand (Ak Bars Kazan) | Damir Zhafyarov (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod) | Danila Zhuravlyov (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| October | Harri Säteri (Sibir Novosibirsk) | Albert Yarullin (Ak Bars Kazan) | Vadim Shipachyov (Dynamo Moscow) | Artyom Galimov (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| November | Timur Bilyalov (Ak Bars Kazan) | Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) | Dmitrij Jaškin (Dynamo Moscow) | Kirill Marchenko (SKA Saint Petersburg) |
| December | Jakub Kovář (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg) | Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) | Roman Starchenko (Barys Nur-Sultan) | Akim Trishin (Spartak Moscow) |
| January | Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow) | Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) | Anton Slepyshev (CSKA Moscow) | Ivan Morozov (CSKA Moscow) |
| February | Ivan Fedotov (Traktor Chelyabinsk) | Vasili Tokranov (SKA Saint Petersburg) | Kirill Kaprizov (CSKA Moscow) | Dmitri Voronkov (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| March | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| April | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |

## Attendances

| # | Ice hockey club | Average attendance |
| 1 | SKA Saint Petersburg | 13,531 |
| 2 | HC Dinamo Minsk | 10,699 |
| 3 | Jokerit | 8,841 |
| 4 | HC Spartak Moscow | 8,776 |
| 5 | HC CSKA Moscow | 7,971 |
| 6 | Ak Bars Kazan | 7,187 |
| 7 | HC Barys | 7,131 |
| 8 | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | 6,844 |
| 9 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 6,805 |
| 10 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 6,785 |
| 11 | HC Sibir Novosibirsk | 6,678 |
| 12 | HC Dynamo Moscow | 6,490 |
| 13 | Traktor Chelyabinsk | 6,437 |
| 14 | HC Sochi | 6,374 |
| 15 | Dinamo Riga | 5,865 |
| 16 | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | 5,389 |
| 17 | Amur Khabarovsk | 5,352 |
| 18 | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | 5,327 |
| 19 | Avangard Omsk | 4,598 |
| 20 | HC Vityaz | 4,301 |
| 21 | Severstal Cherepovets | 4,145 |
| 22 | Admiral Vladivostok | 3,957 |
| 23 | HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 3,571 |
| 24 | Kunlun Red Star | 3,247 |