{"id":601361,"date":"2026-06-18T06:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/601361\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T06:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:27:10","slug":"avalanche-depth-forward-reportedly-returning-to-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/601361\/","title":{"rendered":"Avalanche Depth Forward Reportedly Returning to Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just one day after trading Ross Colton to the Nashville Predators, the Colorado Avalanche are reportedly losing another depth forward from this past season. Zakhar Bardakov is returning to the KHL to play for SKA St. Petersburg. <\/p>\n

The 25-year-old forward dressed in 60 games for the Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning Avs, posting a goal and 10 points in the process. He did not appear in any postseason games.<\/p>\n

F Zakhar Bardakov is expected to return to SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) next season. He had 10 points in 60 games with the Avalanche this past season. #GoAvsGo<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/ikgtXPz0Tc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NHL Rosters (@NHL_Rosters) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Like the Colton trade, this also doesn\u2019t come as much of a surprise. Last summer, Bardakov was often discussed by former general manager Chris MacFarland as a possible long-term option for the team\u2019s 4C position. By the time the trade deadline had passed, he became expendable with the additions of Nic Roy and Nazem Kadri.<\/p>\n

The Avalanche ultimately added them because they didn\u2019t like the fit of Jack Drury at 3C, nor Bardakov as a regular. He left the KHL and joined Colorado on a one-year entry-level contract with the understanding that if things didn\u2019t work out, a KHL return would be likely. That\u2019s the scenario we\u2019re seeing play out.<\/p>\n

Drafted in the seventh round in 2021 by the New Jersey Devils, the Avalanche acquired Bardakov in 2024 in a trade that sent Kurtis MacDermid the other way. Bardakov previously spent four years with SKA St. Petersburg. He broke out in 2024-25, recording 17 goals and 35 points in 53 games. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just one day after trading Ross Colton to the Nashville Predators, the Colorado Avalanche are reportedly losing another…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5116],"tags":[193,192,144,5277,5,4,18398],"class_list":["post-601361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-colorado-avalanche","tag-avalanche","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-coloradoavalanche","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-zakhar-bardakov"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116769694876854603","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}