Earlier this morning, Yahoo!’s Dmitry Chesnokov broke the news that Maxim Afinogenov is the latest to bolt for Russia. He has signed a five-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg, a team that has stocked up on NHL leftovers.
Afinogenov will join the likes of Evgeni Nabokov and Denis Grebeshkov (who signed with the club this summer), along with Alexei Yashin. St. Petersburg was also the team rumored heavily to be going after Ilya Kovalchuk earlier this summer.
Last season with the Thrashers, Afinogenov had a stellar bounce-back season. For the first time in his career, he played the full 82-game slate and also had his best offensive since 2006/07 when Buffalo was the best team in the NHL.
Afinogenov signing in the KHL should come as no surprise, and becomes the sixth player (by our count) to head to Russia’s super league who played in the NHL last season. That number will continue to grow as NHL teams begin to fill their rosters (or are already filled) with upwards of 65 unrestricted free agents still available.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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