Josh Leivo with the Vancouver Canucks.

Photo credit: NHL

A former Vancouver Canucks forward has officially found a new home overseas for the 2025-26 season after having his KHL contract terminated last week.

Shortly after the news of his contract termination was made official, some new information came out from Hockey Worldwide on Instagram that said Ufa Salavat Yulaev wanted Leivo to reduce his salary given some financial issues the club was allegedly dealing with, but the former Canucks decline their request.”Before terminating his contract, Salavat Yulaev Ufa requested forward Joshua Leivo to restructure his contract with a reduced salary.

Leivo declined and his two-year, ₽110M AAV contract was terminated.” Hockey Worldwide said.

Less than a week later and Leivo has found himself a new club for the 2025-26 campaign, with the Innisfil, Ontario native looking to replicate the success he had last year, which saw him break the KHL’s single-season goals record.

Former Vancouver Canuck Josh Leivo finds new club for 2025-26 season

In a press release on Monday morning, KHL club Traktor Chelyabinsk announced that they’ve agreed to terms on a one-year contract with free agent forward Josh Leivo.

Traktor Chelyabinsk General Manager Alexey Volkov was full of praise for Josh Leivo, saying that they believe he’ll be able to contribute a ton offensively for the club and they hope he can write his name in the team’s record books.

Note: the following quote is translated from Russian

“As has already been said, if a player of Joshua Leivo’s caliber enters the market, the club needs to react immediately. Over the past two seasons in the KHL, this forward 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 and an ideal tip for any attack. His shot can be called elite, he is the first violin in the majority and, as they say now, makes the difference. He is a dominant master who 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 the glorious history of Traktor.” Volkov said.

Leivo, 32, has registered 118 points (64 goals, 54 assists), 76 penalty minutes and is a plus-37 in 102 games since joining the KHL ahead of the 2023-24 campaign and if he’s able to impress once again this year, perhaps he could garner some attention from National Hockey League clubs next summer.

The former Canuck is set to make his Traktor Chelyabinsk regular season debut in their 2025-26 opener on Friday, September 5th against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

Previously on CanucksDaily

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Former Vancouver Canuck Officially Finds New Home After Having Contract Terminated

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