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Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy
He had visa issues last year IIRC. If that hasn't been taken care of by now, then I would assume he just doesn't really want to come over for development camp very badly.
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Hard to say. You have to remember the kind of nationalistic fervour Russia is in right now. It could just be that it's Russia that's making things hard. It's quite possible that Rafikov has for example been told by his organization that visiting an NHL development camp would not be viewed favourably.
For background, the talks between NHL and KHL over a transfer agreement have just failed.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/n...deal-with-khl/
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Deputy commissioner Bill Daly handled the negotiations for the NHL and told Sportsnet on Thursday: “Ultimately, the KHL wasn’t interested in a player transfer agreement.”
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Essentially the KHL wants to keep their players.
Maybe Rafikov feels that it's best to not appear too keen to leave Russia before you actually do it. Hard to say what it's like over there right now.