Moscow Russia: Capitals have been a team of Russians for quite a long time, as if they took over their Russian love from Red Wings.
Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Kuznetsov, and Dmitri Orlov could be joined by another Russian as early as next season, a 20-year-old, 2015 #22 overall draftee Ilya Samsonov who is amongst highest rated goalie prospects in the National Hockey League. Ilya is just 20 years old, yet he is a fourth year veteran in the KHL and considered one of the cornerstones of Metallurg Magnitogorsk franchise and already has a Gagarin cup under his belt.
Rumors this morning circulated that Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan is in Russia negotiating a deal with Samsonov. Although negotiations at this point can be only verbal and if an agreement is reached no paperwork can be done until April 30th (due to an agreement between NHL and KHL) when Caps prospect becomes a free agent in KHL, things seem to be progressing and won't be long till we hear a definitive information that an agreement has been reached.
For all, we know MacLellan is indeed in Moscow as confirmed by Igor Eronko
A KHL source has suggested that both sides aren't far off and MacLellan is doing his best to assure Samsonov will get whatever he deserves just to move over as early as next season. There is also a belief amongst people that Philip Grubauer is playing his final season with the Capitals teams.
When reaching out to Metallurg Magnitogorsk team for a comment they weren't really keen on going into details:
They are negotiating and trying to reach a mutual agreement. That is all they can and have been doing until Samsonov is no longer a member of Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Join the Discussion:
»