Radulov back to KHL

[Ravin]

Alexander Radulov is headed back to Russia, according to a report on Yahoo Sports.

Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo is reporting that Radulov has inked a four-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL that will pay him $9.2 million per year.

The report quotes a statement released on the CSKA team website from general manager Sergei Federov where he states how happy the team is with their new acquisition.

"Without any doubt Alexander is one of the most exciting Russian hockey players of the last few years," said Federov in a statement. "On the ice he differs from the rest with his great dedication, high speed, excellent vision of the ice and the goal scoring intelligence of an extra class sniper. "

The 25-year-old forward re-joined the Nashville Predators in the final weeks of the 2011-2012 season after spending four years with Ufa Salavat Yulayev of the KHL.

Radulov went on to appear in nine regular season games, contributing three goals and seven points. He also played in eight playoff games scoring once and adding five assists.

He was also suspended for one second round playoff game by the Predators along-side teammate Andrei Kostitsyn for a violation of team rules.

Radulov was originally drafted by the Predators 15th overall in the first round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

After two seasons in Nashville, the Nizhny Tagil, Russia native left the NHL to play in the KHL in 2006.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=399762

Looking for a paycheck and he got it. Got to love the KHL's method of throwing money at people and bringing them back home.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

I was just getting ready to post this. LOL at $9.2 million a season. No way was he going to come close to that, even with a frontloaded deal.

 

[Ravin]

Not a chance. He would have been lucky IMO to get about $5M, maybe a little more, but it would have been a small deal to see if he stays on the team. I feel bad for Nashville who is just getting ripped apart and this didn't help.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Not a chance. He would have been lucky IMO to get about $5M, maybe a little more, but it would have been a small deal to see if he stays on the team. I feel bad for Nashville who is just getting ripped apart and this didn't help.

Yep, the threat of him leaving was reported before he even suited up for Nashville this past spring. He was definitely only getting a one or two year deal.

I feel bad for the Preds as well. I doubt that Suter is coming back and they just don't have the cash to replace guys who are leaving. They are great at developing players but can they fill all these holes in one off-season?

 

[Ravin]

At some point the Nashville owners group need to put the money into the team. The team is on the edge of a cup, they just need those 1 or 2 players that round out their offence. But not being able to spend the big bucks will cost them much more than a cup, it is now costing them the names that get them close each year. Suter is gone for sure, and Weber's time will be short unless they lock him up to a huge deal.