Boris Katchouk is taking his game overseas.
The former NHL winger has signed with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL, according to a league announcement, and the one-year deal closes the book on his professional career in North America.
Katchouk, 28, spent the 2025-26 season in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization and got into three NHL games. He didn’t record a point in those appearances and went 7-for-19, or 36.8%, on faceoffs while Tampa Bay used the natural winger down the middle. In the AHL, his year was split across three teams, and he finished with 25 points in 46 games.
His season started in Syracuse, where he put up four goals and 10 points in 21 games for the Crunch. Tampa Bay then dealt him to the Minnesota Wild in December of 2025, and he played eight games for Iowa, collecting three points. In March of 2026, Minnesota moved him again, this time to the Flyers, and Katchouk wrapped up his AHL season with Lehigh Valley, scoring six goals and 12 points in 17 games.
That run capped a long AHL career. The Canadian finished with 169 points in 286 games over seven years in the league. His best season came last year, when he set career highs with 21 goals and 49 points in 67 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, finishing second on that team in scoring.
Katchouk also brings a decent NHL track record with him. Tampa Bay picked him 44th overall in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft, and he spent nearly six years in the organization before Chicago got him in the trade that sent Brandon Hagel to the Lightning in 2022.
Over his NHL career, Katchouk has 36 points in 179 games, with most of that production coming in 117 games with the Blackhawks from 2021-24. He also appeared for the Ottawa Senators in 2023-24 after they claimed him off waivers.
Born in Vancouver, Katchouk is listed as a 6-foot-2, well-rounded forward with solid offensive instincts, traits that could make him a fit for more regular work in the KHL.
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