Jun 08 Alexei Emelin Says "Nyet" to the Habs, Again

Chalk Alexei Emelin up as another Russian prospect who prefers the "greener" grass of home as opposed to the Urban jungle that is Montreal. Although Emelin had been in negotiations with the Habs regarding a potential entry to the NHL this season, it would appear that he has agreed to sign a new contract with the Russian Kontinental League's AK Bars Kazan.

Marc de Foy from ruefrontenac.com reports that Emelin's agent Don Meehan inform3ed him that the Russian organization offered better "guarantees", probably meaning that the money was better as opposed to a possible 2 way contract if he signed with the Canadiens. Meehan is awaiting the documents from Russia in order to confirm all details.

One has to wonder if all the drama concerning the Russian players' ability to easily pit the NHL against the KHL in contract leveraging, or better yet, be able to simply jump the NHL ship if they so choose, has got to hurt Russia's prospects for future drafts.

While this would be a shame, since we have seen so much wonderful talent from that side of the globe, many NHL teams, particularly the Canadiens, must be going into the next draft with a strong sense of "once bitten, twice shy." You will recall that The Canadiens still hold the rights to Alexander Perezhogin and Pavel Valentenko, who both fled to the homeland while within the Canadiens organization.

While it can be argued (and not enough room on this article for that) that Perezhogin may have left because he was not satisfied with his ice-time or his relationship with the Habs' coach, and Valentenko was basically financially obliged, due to family duties to sign with Russia, as his Hamilton Bulldog salary was just not cutting it, In Emelin's case, there is no argument to be had.

He neither has the interest nor the curiosity to attempt to play in the NHL, or perhaps more specifically, the Montreal Canadiens. He is not willing to take a chance on his own talent, that in the end, would determine whether he stayed in the NHL or not and quite frankly seems more than content to stay in Russia. Whether playing in the Kontinental league will allow him to play at the highest possible level remains unanswered, however, without knowing all the details and the thought process around his final decision, it would appear that Emelin is content to snub the NHL team that drafted him.

Caveat Emptor. (Buyer beware) 

Tags: ahl \ AK Bars Kazan \ Alexei Emelin \ Alexei Yemelin \ habs \ Hamilton Bulldogs \ KHL \ Montreal Canadiens \ NHL \ sign