It wasn’t so long ago that news about a 25-year old KHL forward re-signing in Russia would be easily swept aside by daily NHL updates, but such as it is, Konstantin Okulov’s new contract is one of the top stories of the day. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reported earlier today that the free agent had re-signed with CSKA Moscow for another year, ending (for now at least) any interest from NHL clubs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens had been the leading pursuers earlier this year and were considered aggressive enough at the time that other teams had hesitated to invest any time in the recruitment of Okulov. The undrafted forward recorded 17 goals and 38 points this season for CSKA, putting him fifth on the team in scoring behind familiar names Kirill Kaprizov, Linden Vey, Anton Slepyshev and Mikhail Grigorenko. It was the third season in four years that he has scored at least 17 goals, actually a relatively impressive accomplishment in the shorter-seasoned KHL.
Perhaps the Maple Leafs’ recent acquisition of Alexander Barabanov spoiled their interest in Okulov, or perhaps he just decided to remain in Russia for another year. His name will surely come up again next spring when he is a free agent once again, though it’s not clear which NHL teams—if any—would be interested at that point.
Speaking of KHL Bill Peters hired as coach in KHL via ESPN