Winger Egor Sokolov is set to be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. After spending this season under contract with the Mammoth, it doesn’t appear he’ll return to the organization for 2025-26. Sokolov is expected to sign a contract with CKSA Moscow of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, according to Sport24.ru.
Utah acquired Sokolov’s signing rights in exchange for those of forward Jan Jeník in a trade with the Senators shortly after free agency opened last summer. A restricted free agent at the time, Sokolov put pen to paper on a one-year, two-way deal with the Mammoth days later that paid him a $190K minors salary.
Sokolov had hoped to get another NHL try in Salt Lake City after appearing in 13 games for Ottawa across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. However, the 6’3″, 222-lb Russian cleared waivers and spent the entire season in the minors for the second straight year.
The 2020 second-round pick by the Sens played in all 72 games for Utah’s AHL affiliate in Tucson, finishing third on the team with a 22-22–44 scoring line but posting a club-worst -20 rating. It marked Sokolov’s second straight year with declining minor-league production after he notched a career-high 38 assists and 59 points in 70 games with the Belleville Senators in 2022-23.
While Sokolov had legitimate top-nine upside a couple of years ago, that’s likely gone with his AHL development stalling out. Instead of continuing in his current role as a top-nine minor-league piece, he’ll return home to play in Russia for the first time since 2016-17. He played junior hockey with QMJHL Cape Breton for three years before turning pro with the Senators in 2020.