Although I am not one of the guys who want him here in Calgary, looking at his numbers they aren't really that bad from a production point of view.
I understand the buyout and how he was on a league min salary with Montreal but there was SOME production there.
His goals and points on an 82 game season are approx 18-20 goals and 45-50 points. Plenty of bigger nightmares still skating around the NHL with worse numbers than that.
I think this is one of those scenarios where a Russian guy can just go back home, make really good money and play a good game. The Covid situation has changed things for everybody and even some of the restrictions that are going to be forced onto players will take a huge amount of fun away from the game and the experience. This won't be like other seasons for the boys.
He wasn't going to get a big contract in the NHL and rather than sitting around making $700-$1 million and having to stay at a hotel for half the season, it was the best option to go back.
This notion that he had zero business or ability to contribute at the NHL level is laughable to me. Although not a great comparison, I also believe that players like Jagr and Iginla had a lot to offer teams and their young players. Not just on the ice but experience off it as well. I do think the NHL is losing that ability to have a lot of really good seasoned vet's who have played a long long time around, they can contribute in other ways.
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