Early September the board of Barys Astana decided that Nazarov and the entire coaching staff will be dismissed due to “unsatisfactory sports results”. 

Although rumours that he would have to leave the national team as well were not officially confirmed since there hasn’t been a formal board decision yet, Nazarov also bade farewell to the national team in a statement to the media. 

Barys Astana missed the playoffs last season and started the new KHL season with three losses in three games. 2016 hasn’t been a good year for the Kazakh national team either which suffered relegation at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and missed the qualification for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. After a good start at the qualification tournament last week with an overtime win against host Norway the team lost 4-1 to France and wasn’t able to reach first place due to this result. 

On 7 September 2016, Barys Astana named Eduard Zankovets new head coach. He once led the Belarusian national team and most recently worked as scout for the Chicago Blackhawks.