Ex-Vancouver Canucks Forward Officially Has Contract Terminated Overseas
Photo credit: NHL
A KHL club has officially terminated the contract of a former Vancouver Canucks forward on Wednesday and it appears that he's already found his new team for the 2025-26 campaign.
On Tuesday, reports circulated overseas that said reigning KHL MVP and former Vancouver Canucks forward Josh Leivo was set to have his contract terminated by his club, six months after signing a multi-year extension.
A couple of different reasons were given for the potential contract termination, one being that the club could no longer afford to pay him the 110 million rubles ($1.9 million CAD) that he was owed per year, while another stated that he was late showing up to training camp because his visa did not arrive on time.
"Per both Sport-Express and Championat in Russia, Josh Leivo's contract with Salavat Yulayev has been terminated. No official announcement from the team yet.
From what I can gather according to the original reporting, Leivo was late showing up to training camp.
But the reporting goes that his visa had not come through yet, which seems like a pretty legit reason. As a Canadian citizen, a visa is an absolute must to enter Russia." AHL reporter Patrick Williams said on X.
From what I can gather according to the original reporting, Leivo was late showing up to training camp.
But the reporting goes that his visa had not come through yet, which seems like a pretty legit reason. As a Canadian citizen, a visa is an absolute must to enter Russia." AHL reporter Patrick Williams said on X.
KHL club officially terminates contract of former Vancouver Canucks forward
On Wednesday morning, the Kontinental Hockey League shared that Ufa Salavat Yulaev have officially terminated Josh Leivo's contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Note: the following has been translated from Russian.
"Salavat Yulaev terminated the contract with forward Joshua Leivo by mutual agreement. In the 2024/2025 season, Leivo played 76 matches for the Ufa club, in which he scored 95 (51+44) points - he became the top scorer, sniper and most valuable player of the regular championship. In total, he has 122 games in the KHL, 70 goals scored and 72 assists." the KHL said.
It doesn't look like Leivo will be a free agent for too long as Tony Androckitis, who covers the American Hockey League, is reporting that Traktor Chelyabinsk are expected to sign the former Vancuover Canuck after they cleared up a spot for a foreign player on Tuesday by dealing Mike Vecchione to Barys Astana.
"The KHL's early 2025-26 drama is almost exclusively former AHL player-involved.
Josh Leivo's contract gets terminated with Ufa & he's expected to sign with Traktor, who traded Mike Vecchione - who they recently signed late last month - to Barys Astana." Androckitis said.
Josh Leivo's contract gets terminated with Ufa & he's expected to sign with Traktor, who traded Mike Vecchione - who they recently signed late last month - to Barys Astana." Androckitis said.
Leivo, a native of Innisfil, Ontario, had a strong second year in the KHL, breaking the league's single-season goals record with 49, while adding 31 assists for 80 points in 62 games.
By joining Traktor Chelyabinsk, assuming the deal gets done, he'll be playing alongside a couple of names that are very familiar to fans here in North America - forward Mikhail Grigorenko and goaltender Chris Driedger.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 13 | 1035 ANSWERS Ex-Vancouver Canucks Forward Officially Has Contract Terminated Overseas Will Josh Leivo lead the KHL in goals again during the upcoming season? | ||
| Yes | 364 | 35.2 % |
| No | 671 | 64.8 % |
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