Vladimir Sobotka Coming Back To NHL

According to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch, and confirmed by KHL Insider Aivis Kalniņš, Vladimir Sobotka has opted out of his deal with Avangard Omsk of the KHL and is headed back to North America.  Sobotka originally signed a three-year deal for $4MM per season after leaving the NHL in 2014, but after a dispute with his Russian club, has decided to opt out and return to the NHL.

Because he was signed to a $2.725MM contract through arbitration before he left for Russia, the 28-year old winger will have to fulfill that contract before hitting the NHL free agent market. One season for the Blues would be a big help for a team set to lose captain David Backes along with wingers Troy Brouwer and Steve Ott.

Sobotka had 24 points in his final season before departing for the KHL and has never found much scoring success in the NHL. He found some in KHL however, where last season he scored 18 goals in just 44 games.  Time will tell whether he will be able to replicate that in the different NHL game.