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With reports surfacing over the last day and a half, it appears that logic once again may have provided more insight into a situation than writers, general managers and the like. It appears my cautionary words regarding Vladimir Sobotka may have held more water than many around town may have wanted to believe. As I tried to outline over the last few weeks, Sobotka’s inaction and lack of comments said more to me than words his agent was whispering into general manager Doug Armstrong’s ear.

Of course, to me, Sobotka not coming back to the NHL may actually be a blessing for the Blues as his salary would have been a lot for a fourth line, borderline third line player, especially where the Blues seem to have a plethora of options. The freed up cap room may come in very handy throughout the season.

Let’s travel back into time to July 2014 for a few minutes. Remember Sobotka’s comments after signing his three year contract with Omsk of the KHL. He said “I’d rather stay in the NHL, but there was no other way out. We could not agree on a contract. [The Blues] thought that I would wait for arbitration, I did not, unfortunately”. Sobotka had a way to stay in the NHL but he wouldn’t accept it. It wasn’t an unfortunate situation that just happened rather he chose to sign in the KHL before he even knew if he would get what he wanted in arbitration. I’m sure Omsk tried to apply pressure and may have even given him a deadline to accept the offer before arbitration. I would have if I was their general manager but the reality is that he chose to leave the NHL when he had ways to stay. He must not have felt those options were in his best interest. His comment struck me a bit like Albert Pujols comments before he left, disingenuous.

At the time, Sobotka’s further comments really seemed to shed light on what may be going on. He commented that he wanted to “go to a team where [they] will respect me” and that he wanted to “prove that I am more”. When you couple these comments with his “no other way out” comment, the tea leaves start to make you wonder if the latter comment referred to the KHL being his only way out of St. Louis.

When you couple his 2014 comments with his recent statement that he left for “personal issues”, does it add to the speculation that he may have had personal issues with various members of Blues management or the coaching staff and wanted a way out?

Let’s speculate a bit more by looking at some other recent comments. Armstrong said that “it’s a difficult situation because he’s informed the Russian team I think that he doesn’t want to play there”. Wait, what? You only think he has? If I was Sobotka and wanted to come back to the NHL, you can be sure Armstrong would know exactly what I have done and that I would be including the Blues in my strategy discussion on how to make it happen.

Another comment Armstrong made might be seen as an even bigger red flag. He stated “now it’s just a negotiation and we’re hoping to get this behind us”. This statement almost seems to open Pandora’s box on the matter. Are you part of the negotiation and hoping to get it behind you? Are you a bystander hoping Sobotka and his agent get it resolved? Did the Omsk contract not have clear termination language? Did Sobotka not follow the termination language? Is Sobotka trying to get out of the buyout cost of his KHL contract? Is Sobotka trying to get the Blues to pay for some or all of the buyout cost of the KHL contract? Is the KHL trying to block the deal or be compensated more for allowing it to happen?

Sobotka recently commented that “we’re still talking and we’ll see what’s going to happen during the World Cup”. I think most people took that to mean he and his agent were still talking to the KHL but is it possible that it actually means that he, his agent and Armstrong are negotiating during the World Cup?

Sobotka further that that he has “had enough of it” and will “see what’s going to happen”. The comments may be seen as indifference on his part or as him resigned to the possibility of being in the KHL next season.

Any way you slice it, this sure is a lot of drama for a player who has never scored 10 goals in a NHL season. Here’s to hoping this situation gets resolved sooner rather than later.

It’s a great day for hockey.

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