Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

Oilers prospect Maxim Berezkin to remain in KHL next season, plans to try for NHL in 2026-27

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Cam Lewis | Last updated Jul 3, 2025 3:19 PM ET

We won’t be seeing prospect Maxim Berezkin at the Edmonton Oilers’ training camp this fall.

According to Jason Gregor, the young Russian winger will spend the 2025-26 season with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of the KHL and plans to try for the NHL in 2026-27.

The Oilers selected Berezkin in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft following a strong showing with Yaroslavl’s Loko Junior team. He scored 25 goals and 54 points over 51 games at the Junior level in 2019-20, good for second on his team in both categories.

Known for his size and play-making ability, Berezkin stands 6-foot-4 and has steadily developed his game since being drafted. He split the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons between the MHL and KHL for Yaroslavl, playing fourth-line minutes on one of Russia’s top professional teams.

The skilled winger began to find his offensive stride as he climbed Lokomotiv’s depth chart. In 2022-23, Berezkin recorded 26 points in 52 regular-season games and added five points in 12 playoff appearances. He built on that in 2023-24, posting 30 points over 62 games in his first full KHL season. Berezkin then took a major step forward in the postseason, breaking out with 16 points in 20 games as Yaroslavl made a deep run to the Gagarin Cup Final.

Maxim Beryozkin! Lokomotiv!#GagarinCup pic.twitter.com/Dd9DsZktfW

— KHL (@khl_eng) March 25, 2023

That showing in the playoffs helped lift Berezkin into a top-six role in 2024-25. He scored 15 goals and finished second on Yaroslavl in scoring with 42 points in 66 games. In the playoffs, Berezkin put up 14 points in 21 games as Lokomotiv captured its first-ever Gagarin Cup.

General manager Stan Bowman said back in April that the Oilers were working to sign Berezkin, but the winger wound up signing a one-year contract extension with Lokomotiv in May after the team’s championship.

Since KHL deals often feature out-clauses for players to leave for the NHL, there was some speculation that the Oilers could still reach a deal with Berezkin this summer. Instead, he’ll spend another season developing his game with a championship-calibre pro team before trying to crack Edmonton’s roster in 2026-27.

The Oilers maintain Berezkin’s NHL rights unless they trade them away or he signs a contract and the two sides agree to terminate the deal, like what happened a few years ago with goalie prospect Ilya Konovalov.

Playing in the American Hockey League on a minor-league salary is a less attractive option than the KHL for somebody in Berezkin’s position. With that in mind, there’s really no rush to bring Berezkin to North America until the Oilers are confident he can contribute at the NHL level and there’s some runway to give him an opportunity.

This article first appeared on Oilersnation and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: