Dynamo Moscow reports about signing 3-years deal with Pavel Valentenko of AHL Hamilton Bulldogs.
Wow! This is a shocker and some bad news. Looks like we can clear up the rumours. The word was Montreal let him go home to deal with family issues, then he was taken off Hamilton's roster page, now this.
Geez... that hurts. I mean he hasn't looked good this year, but he was still a major prospect. BUT... he was UNDER CONTRACT WITH US. So I don't understand how he can do that...
Carle, Subban, Weber, Fischer, McDo...this is why Gainey and co. stack up on prospects, especially on D. It'll affect Hamilton this year, but it shouldn't affect the Habs much in the long run regardless of whether or not he chooses to come back.
Carle, Subban, Weber, Fischer, McDo...this is why Gainey and co. stack up on prospects, especially on D. It'll affect Hamilton this year, but it shouldn't affect the Habs much in the long run regardless of whether or not he chooses to come back.
You can't just look at it that way. He was a great prospect that hit like a truck & seemed to have a ton of heart. He adapted to the AHL very easily.
You can't just look at it that way. He was a great prospect that hit like a truck & seemed to have a ton of heart. He adapted to the AHL very easily.
Well he was one of our best d-men down in Hamilton last year by most accounts. But he had a rough camp in Montreal this year, and not the best start in Hamilton. And then apparently there were family issues back in Russia.
But still... a three year deal with Moscow.... he's under contract to Montreal for this year and next. I doubt we'd let him go off and sign that.
I thought the new agreement between the NHL and KHL didn't allow clubs t sign players who are under contract with the other league. Does this not apply to AHL players?
I wonder how much he's getting. I wonder if there's ever going to be any incentive to remove the minor league salary limits on entry level deals. You can hardly blame a player for taking 10X or more salary to play at home. Ah well.
If there was one guy that I thought would not do this, it would have been him. His comments about not wanting to go back in Russia seemed to be so definitive.
I'm totally stunned and wonder what effect it will have on guys like Emelin and Perezhogin. And now that we're excited about Trunev....
Maybe we should start concentrating our efforts elsewhere in Europe like Finland and Sweden....
Count me among the confused who thought there was an unwritten ceasefire between the NHL and KHL with regards to signing players already under contract. How naive of me.
It won't be so bad if we can get Emelin over after this year...lose one Russian defenseman, get another...but still, I would rather have had both.
I have to admit that I haven't seen much of him so my assesment is limited to camp reports and the odd TV broadcast.
Bob and Carbo must have thought that Breeze-by was better as our 7th D than this kid. I have to trust their judgement even though I don't like the play of #71.
Good luck to him in RSL, we still have a pretty good Rusky in Markov though.
If there was one guy that I thought would not do this, it would have been him. His comments about not wanting to go back in Russia seemed to be so definitive.
I'm totally stunned and wonder what effect it will have on guys like Emelin and Perezhogin. And now that we're excited about Trunev....
Maybe we should start concentrating our efforts elsewhere in Europe like Finland and Sweden....
i think emelin will be back in montreal next year for the training camp and if he can get a roster spot with the big club he's not going to go back to russia
Acknowledging I haven't seen as much as Pavel as many posters here, however from what I did see I think he had nice "New NHL" upside. He's a great skater. Oh well, nothing ventured nothing lost. Maybe he'll come back more refined.
Not entirely sure what to make of this. Hopefully the Habs make a statement soon and clear up exactly what has gone on, but it's a real shame to see him leave.
Not entirely sure what to make of this. Hopefully the Habs make a statement soon and clear up exactly what has gone on, but it's a real shame to see him leave.
Gainey's on Bettman's radio show this afternoon. One of us must get through and ask this question!
Not entirely sure what to make of this. Hopefully the Habs make a statement soon and clear up exactly what has gone on, but it's a real shame to see him leave.
I'd bet that they know what they read. Without knowing, I'd wager that PV said he had to go home to take care of some things and here we are. Not much you can do about it.
I doubt that Julien Brisebois wil be packing his stuff and calling UPS though.
I'd bet that they know what they read. Without knowing, I'd wager that PV said he had to go home to take care of some things and here we are. Not much you can do about it.
i dont like this news.
