Avalanche sign Zakhar Bardakov to one-year contract

The Colorado Avalanche have announced that the club has signed center Zakhar Bardakov to a one-year contract set to begin in the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.

Through 53 appearances this season with the KHL’s St. Petersburg SKA, the 6-foot-2 Russian-born forward collected 17 goals and 18 assists to finish eighth in team scoring with 35 points coupled with 30 penalty minutes and a plus-20 rating. Bardakov then added another two points counting one goal and one assist through six postseason appearances.

In all, through part of five seasons and 209 career contests in the KHL, Bardakov has collected 38 goals and 41 assists for 79 points.

In 2021, Bardakov joined Russia at the World Juniors where through seven appearances he scored once and added an assist for two points alongside four penalty minutes en route to a fourth-place finish.

Bardakov was originally chosen by the New Jersey Devils in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Draft. Three years later, Bardakov was dealt to the Avalanche in exchange for fellow forward Kurtis MacDermid plus a seventh-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Bardakov is the fourth player to sign with the Avalanche in the past month, joining St. Thomas Tommies forward Cooper Gay, Cloud State Huskies goaltender Isak Posch, plus Maine Black Bears forward Taylor Makar.

For the Avalanche, the club closed out the 2024-25 regular season with a 49-29-4 record and 102 points to lock in third place in the Central Division and set up an opening-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Dallas Stars. On Saturday, the Avalanche came away with a 5-1 victory in Game 1 in Dallas, with Artturi Lehkonen, Devon Toews, Charlie Coyle, and a two-goal performance by Nathan MacKinnon providing the offense for Colorado. The Avalanche will look to take a two-game series lead on Monday in Dallas.