Canadian winger Josh Leivo, 32, has signed a one-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk, the KHL website announced on Monday.

The news comes just five days after Leivo’s contract with rival KHL club Salavat Yulaev Ufa was terminated – visa and club financial issues were cited. This past season, Leivo set a KHL record with 49 goals in 62 regular-season games. He finished the season with a league-leading 80 points and was rewarded with the league’s MVP award and what turned out to be a short-lived two-year contract extension.

“As has already been said, if a player of Josh Leivo’s caliber enters the market, the club needs to react immediately,” said Traktor GM Alexei Volkov. “Over the past two seasons in the KHL, he has become a real star of the league, breaking what seemed to be Sergei Mozyakin’s eternal record and winning the MVP title at the end of the 2024-25 regular season.

“It can be said without a shadow of a doubt that Josh is a real scoring machine,” Volkov described. “His shot can be called elite, his one-timer on the power play and, as they say, is a difference-maker. He feels comfortable against any opponent and any defensive line. We are confident that Leivo will quickly adapt to our friendly team and will write his name in its glorious history.”

A native of Innisfil, Ont. who played junior hockey for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and Kitchener Rangers, Leivo was picked in the third round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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Leivo played 265 NHL games between 2013 and 2023 for the Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and St. Louis Blues, recording 93 points and 93 penalty minutes. In 2022, he won a Calder Cup championship with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, leading the playoffs with 29 points in 18 games and winning the playoff MVP award.

In two KHL seasons, Leivo now has 142 points in 122 regular-season and playoff games.

Traktor had the best record in the KHL this past regular season but lost in the Gagarin Cup finals to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in five games, so there has to be a feeling that this move could put the team over the top.

In addition to Leivo, the club’s roster includes ex-NHLers Mikhail Grigorenko, Vladimir Zharkov, Jordan Gross and goaltender Chris Driedger. It also has NHL prospects Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (Toronto), Alexander Rykov (Carolina) and Arseni Koromyslov (St. Louis).

Former NHL Goalie Chris Driedger Signs In KHL Canadian goaltender Chris Driedger, 31, has signed a one-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk, the KHL club announced on Tuesday.