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Vitali Abramov

NHL Prospects Moved At The 2021 KHL Trade Deadline

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The NHL’s trade deadline is still nearly three months away but in the KHL, the deadline for player movement was today.  There were several deals completed including a few involving players whose rights are held by NHL teams.  Here’s a rundown of those moves.

  • Senators RFA winger Vitali Abramov was moved from Traktor Chelyabinsk to CSKA Moscow. The 23-year-old has five career NHL games under his belt but opted to head back home in the summer.  He has 17 points in 41 KHL contests this season and his contract overseas runs through the 2022-23 season.  Ottawa retains his RFA rights through the 2024-25 season.
  • Blackhawks goaltender Ivan Nalimov is on the move from Admiral Vladivostok to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The 27-year-old came to North America for the first time last season, getting in five games with AHL Rockford down the stretch on an AHL deal before returning to Russia this season.  The 2014 sixth-rounder has a 3.50 GAA along with a .891 SV% in 10 games this season and Chicago holds his rights indefinitely since he never signed an NHL contract and there is no transfer agreement in place between Russia and the NHL.
  • Golden Knights center prospect Ivan Morozov was dealt to HC Sochi from SKA St. Petersburg. The 21-year-old was a second-round pick (61st overall) back in 2018 but after spending all of last season in the KHL, he split this season between that league and their lower-tier VHL.  The swap should allow him to play a larger role with Sochi.  Vegas also holds Morozov’s rights indefinitely.

Other names of some note that were on the move were former Stars defenseman Julius Honka who went from Dinamo Minsk to Ak Bars Kazan, former Maple Leafs and Canadiens blueliner Rinat Valiev who went the other way in the Honka trade. Former Bruins prospect Pavel Shen was moved from HK Sochi to Admiral Vladivostok; his NHL deal was terminated back in May while former Jets winger J.C. Lipon was dealt from Sochi to Sibir Novosibirsk.

Vitaly Abramov Signs In KHL

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The Ottawa Senators depth chart is getting awfully crowded at the forward position, with young players emerging almost daily. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why Vitaly Abramov has signed a two-year contract in the KHL with Traktor Chelyabinsk. Abramov was scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. The Senators will be able to retain his restricted free agent rights by issuing him a qualifying offer, keeping him attached to the organization.

Originally selected in the third round of the 2016 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Abramov was in the NHL making his debut by the 2018-19 season after being part of the Matt Duchene trade. Now 23, he has just five games at that level with the Senators, spending much of his time in the AHL instead. This season for Belleville, he had 19 points in 23 games, a strong showing for the talented winger.

Unfortunately, with the pipeline so packed from high picks over the last few years, it was hard to see Abramov getting a top-six opportunity in Ottawa anytime soon. A return to the KHL will give him a chance to play more important offensive minutes and could help him secure an NHL role down the line. For now, the Senators will have to wait and watch, but his rights won’t expire for several years.

Senators Recall Vitali Abramov From Loan

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With the expectation that training camps will be starting within the next few weeks, several players who had been loaned overseas have started to make the trek back to North America.  The latest to do so is Senators winger Vitali Abramov as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Abramov has left his team in Finland to fly to Ottawa and begin his self-quarantine period.

The 22-year-old fared well in what wound up being limited action with Jukurit of the SM-liiga as injuries limited him to just eight games.  However, Abramov made the most of those contests, picking up five goals and two assists.  He has been a productive scorer in the minors and notched 18 goals and 23 assists in 51 games with AHL Belleville last season and as a result, he’s expected to be among those considered for one of the final roster spots with the Sens.  If that doesn’t happen, however, Jukurit GM Jukka Holtar indicated that Abramov could return to Finland this season:

Naturally, we hope that he will get a place in the NHL, but, if that doesn’t happen, we’ll have to (think) seriously (about bringing him back) for the rest of the season.  We’ve been in regular contact with Ottawa and have been very pleased. It’s known there the activities here are of high quality, and for them Jukurit is one of the absolute options.

While it’s the final year of Abramov’s entry-level contract, going back to Finland may be a good idea, especially with the AHL season expected to be truncated (and in Belleville’s case, they’ll only play three other Canadian-based teams for their entire campaign).  It’s also not slated to start until early February, assuming it isn’t pushed back for the second time so if he is cut, returning overseas would guarantee him getting back into game action earlier.  Of course, Abramov’s focus will be on earning a spot with the Senators next month but if that doesn’t happen, he will have some options.

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