Report: Chernyshov Leaves KHL for North America

Igor Chernyshov is coming to (North) America.

Multiple reports, from Hockey News Hub to NHL.com’s Sergey Demidov, confirmed that the most recent San Jose Sharks’ second-round pick is leaving Dynamo Moscow.

San Jose Hockey Now can confirm these reports.

Hockey News Hub reported that the 6-foot-2 Russian winger “bought the last year of his contract from Dynamo Moscow and terminated the agreement with the team on his own initiative.”

“He’s very excited to go to San Jose. He says he’ll do anything he can to get there as soon as he can,” Chernyshov said via a translator after the Draft.

Chernyshov’s CHL rights are held by the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, which selected him in the most recent CHL Import Draft.

He’s also eligible to play in the AHL or NHL, once he signs his entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks.

Best guess, that should happen in short order: Chernyshov’s path appears similar to 2023 second-round pick Kasper Halttunen, who left Finland after the Draft, signed his ELC with the San Jose Sharks, then starred for the OHL’s London Knights.

“Just bull in a china shop-type forward. High skill. High sense,” an NHL scout told San Jose Hockey Now about Chernyshov. “When he wants to get after it and compete, he is a monster physically, very hard to contain. He’s a big dude, soft hands, smart.”