Former Edmonton Oilers fan favourite Klim Kostin is leaving the NHL
A reunion between the Edmonton Oilers and Klim Kostin was not meant to be.
After the San Jose Sharks elected to let the Russian forward walk into free agency this summer, there was plenty of speculation that he could make a return to the Alberta capital. Kostin had previously played a single season in Edmonton back in 2022-23, where he posted career-highs in every offensive category, and endeared himself to the Oilers faithful.
He was a strong player who wasn’t afraid to throw around the body and found a way to score at opportune times. Even Kostin himself gave an interview last summer, gushing about his love for Edmonton and his desire to return.
Yet, after going unsigned and the NHL already a month into its new season, it appears Kostin won’t be playing in the league at all anymore. Instead, he has opted to return to his native Russia on a one-year deal with KHL team Avangard Omsk.
2021 Gagarin Cup champion Klim Kostin is back to Omsk! pic.twitter.com/eqbyAZKFF4
— KHL (@khl_eng) November 3, 2025
This will be Kostin’s third foray into the KHL after playing with Moscow Dynamo before he was drafted, as well as playing a single season with Avangard in 2020-21, winning a championship in the process.
His NHL career outside of Edmonton has been very underwhelming. He initially came to the Oilers in a minor trade after failing to live up to his first-round draft billing with the St. Louis Blues.
Though he impressed in the Alberta capital, he wound up being a cap casualty and was dumped in a trade to the Detroit Red Wings. Kostin couldn’t stick there and was traded once again to San Jose.
Even on one of the worst teams in the league, the Russian forward couldn’t quite carve out a spot. He put up just six goals and 17 points across two seasons with the Sharks, and wasn’t even a regular player in the lineup.
Kostin might have garnered a lot of fans in Edmonton, but his skill set just didn’t mesh with an Oilers team trying to win a Stanley Cup.