The season starts today. The first round looks rather boring. The top teams play against weak opponents (Eniey and newcomers). Proton (Dinamo Metar) and Odintsovo (Leningradka) get the chance to take revenge for the loss in the cup.
The loss of Sakhalin and the addition of three new teams should make the league weaker. The four top teams should have a lot of easy games. I hope they use it to give the substitute players some playtime. Some thoughts on the teams:
Kazan: They dominated last season and are stronger this season. Bricio replaced De La Cruz and Konovalova joind the team. Kotikova and Kadochkina seem to healthy again. They should get one of the two fix spots in the final six (unless Startseva gets injured).
Lokomotiv: They did not replace Cleger but added Vorobyeva (Shevchuk left). Evdokomova and Melnikova replaced Orlova and Brovkina. Dijkema is the new setter. Without their best scorer from last season (Ezhak will probably play OPP) they seem to be a bit weaker. The have the option to add a foreigner before the playoffs.
Uralochka: Romanova, Evdokimova, Enina and Klimets left. MB position looks a bit weaker (Safonova is third MB...). Still a top four team.
Moscow: They added Romanova, Klimets, Kuznetsova, Natalia, Orlova, Enina and Bibina and lost no essential player. This should make them stronger than last season which they already showed in the Cup (3-1 win against Loko). I don't think Orlova was necessary. The addition of two OPP seems odd. Maybe Goncharova will play mainly in big matches. With only one foreigner they have the option to add a player later in the season. Probably an OH since they only have three (I don't consider Kuznetsova an OH because of her reception skills). Top favorite for the second fix spot in the finals.
Proton: Russu replaced Martiniuc. Setters are still a potential problem. They had a great season. Playoffs shouldn't be a problem.
Krasnodar: Only one big change (Vetrova) and a small one (Sukhoverkhova for Korenchuk). Hopefully Vetrova will help them to get the stability they lacked the last few seasons. The have the potential to make the final six.
Leningradka: Team looks similar to the one last year (Sokolchyk, Stolyarova and Rusakova for Kuznetsova, Samadova, Frolova, Markova). Should be somewhere in the middle of the table and have a good chance on making the playoffs.
Odintsovo: All starting players left. Mainly young players plus Korenchuk and Dumcheva. I am happy that Matveeva is starting but expect the team to have some problems (0-3 against Leningradka in Cup). Might get one of the last playoff places.
Minchanka: They were disappointing the last few seasons and I don't expect them to do much better this season. They had close matches against the newcomers in the Cup.
Dinamo Metar: Strongest team in years. Unfortunately Pirogovskaya got injured in a Cup match. They should reach the playoffs this season.
Enisey, Lipetsk, Tulitsa, Sparta: I do not really know that much about them. Sparta's setters were injured last week which makes the season start very difficult for them. Tulitsa added Olga Frolova and Malygina which might make them the strongest new team. I expect most of these teams to be at the bottom of the table.