- Zakhar Bardakov signed a one-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL
- Colorado qualified him first, so the Avalanche hang onto his NHL rights
- Read below for how his one NHL season went and why he is heading back to Russia
Zakhar Bardakov’s NHL stay lasted exactly one season.
SKA St. Petersburg announced Friday that the 25-year-old forward has signed a one-year contract, sending him back to the KHL after a single year in Colorado, per Pro Hockey Rumors.
The Avalanche saw this coming and covered themselves. Colorado tendered Bardakov a qualifying offer earlier in the week, which keeps his NHL rights in the fold even with him playing overseas. The short term of the SKA deal leaves the door cracked for a return to Denver in 2027-28 if he tears up the KHL again.
St. Petersburg is familiar ground. Bardakov spent last winter centering a loaded top line in St. Petersburg, including a stretch skating alongside Ivan Demidov before the young star bolted for the NHL:
His numbers in Colorado were modest. Bardakov put up one goal and 10 points in 60 games as a rookie, mostly on the fourth line, averaging just 7:17 a night. The lone tally came against New Jersey in late October, the team that originally drafted him.
Here’s Bardakov’s first and only NHL goal:
The path here was a winding one. New Jersey took Bardakov 203rd overall in the 2021 draft, then flipped his rights to Colorado in 2024 for Kurtis MacDermid. He stayed in Russia and broke out with SKA in 2024-25, posting 17 goals and 35 points in 53 games with a plus-20 rating.
That season earned him a look in North America. It just never turned into a real role. Colorado’s forward group is stacked at the top, and with the Avs busy reshaping their depth this summer, there was no clear runway for a fourth-line winger who barely cleared seven minutes a game.
So Bardakov goes back to where the ice time is. Colorado holds his rights, the qualifying offer is on the books, and a big KHL year could put him right back in the conversation two summers from now.
