Alex Ovechkin won’t be the only Washington Capitals player participating in this year’s Match of the Year — an exhibition bringing together NHL and KHL stars to raise money for charity.
On Wednesday, the game’s website released the full roster of players, coaches, and legends participating, and Capitals’ winger Aliaksei Protas will be suiting up for the game. Protas, who Tom Wilson said was Ovechkin’s personal chauffeur during the past season, has experience both in the NHL and KHL during his career, playing one season with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk.
Other former Capitals participating include Dmitry Orlov and Dmitrij Jaškin. Viktor Kozlov will be a coach while Ilya Kovalchuk and Sergei Fedorov, will serve as general managers.
NHL stars Evgeni Malkin and Kirill Kaprizov will take the ice, as well as two members of the Carolina Hurricanes‘ Stanley Cup champion team: Andrei Svechnikov and Alexander Nikishin.
The goaltender Ovechkin broke the NHL goals record against, Ilya Sorokin, will also suit up for the game.
This year’s match will take place at SKA Arena in St. Petersburg on July 25. In a twist, players from the KHL and NHL will not play each other. Team Panarin and Team Sergachev will determine their rosters through a draft. The NHL players defeated the KHL stars 15-3 in the 2025 iteration of the game.
See the commercial Alex Ovechkin filmed to promote the match.
Full Match of the Year roster
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
Artemi Panarin (Los Angeles Kings)
Pavel Buchnevich (St. Louis Blues)
Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild)
Vasily Podkolzin (Edmonton Oilers)
Vladimir Tkachev (Avangard Omsk),
Vadim Shipachev (Salavat Yulaev Ufa)
Alexander Zharovsky (Salavat Yulaev Ufa)
Prokhor Poltapov (CSKA Moscow)
Matvei Michkov (Philadelphia Flyers)
Dmitry Silantyev (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
Dmitrij Jaškin (Ak Bars Kazan)
Artem Galimov (Ak Bars Kazan)
Kirill Marchenko (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Vitali Kravtsov (Traktor Chelyabinsk)
Konstantin Okulov (Avangard Omsk)
Marat Khusnutdinov (Boston Bruins)
Nikolay Goldobin (SKA Saint Petersburg)
Mikhail Maltsev (HC Spartak Moscow)
Alexander Barabanov (Ak Bars Kazan)
Egor Surin (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
Maxim Shalunov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
Alex Radulov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
Aliaksei Protas (Washington Capitals)
Andrei Kuzmenko (Los Angeles Kings)
Valeri Nichushkin (Colorado Avalanche)
Andrei Svechnikov (Carolina Hurricanes)
Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Defenseman
Vladislav Gavrikov (New York Rangers)
Alexander Romanov (New York Islanders)
Ilya Lyubushkin (Dallas Stars)
Mikhail Sergachev (Utah Mammoth)
Dmitry Simashev (Utah Mammoth)
Dmitry Orlov (San Jose Sharks)
Ivan Provorov (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Daniil Pylenkov (Dynamo Moscow)
Damir Sharipzyanov (Avangard Omsk)
Pavel Mintyukov (Anaheim Ducks)
Nikita Lyamkin (Ak Bars Kazan)
Grigory Dronov (Traktor Chelyabinsk)
Rushan Rafikov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
Egor Yakovlev (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
Alexander Nikishin (Carolina Hurricanes).
Goaltenders
Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers)
Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers)
Nikita Serebryakov (Avangard Omsk)
Ilya Sorokin (New York Islanders)
Yaroslav Askarov (San Jose Sharks)
Maxim Dorozhko (Amur Khabarovsk)
Coaches
Igor Nikitin
Oleg Znarok
Anvar Gatiyatulin
Igor Larionov
Viktor Kozlov
Andrei Razin
General managers
Ilya Kovalchuk
Sergei Fedorov
