Some more news out of Russia this morning, it seems:
Nikita Zaitsev, one of the most promising Russian defenders, told R-Sport he’s going to stay in the #KHL for 1 more year #NHL
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) May 24, 2015
The Flyers were apparently one of the frontrunners for Zaitsev’s services, and Zaitsev seemed to show quite a bit of interest in the team as well. But, if you take a look, the Flyers’ blueline is still kind of crowded, and Ron Hextall’s already publicly stated he’s going to have to do a lot of work to fix that (i.e. trades).
Nikita Zaitsev would immediately jump into the top six on the depth chart (and that’s likely one of the selling points the team is trying to use to garner his services), but an extra year in which the team is still going through a transition phase could certainly help clear things up.
Zaitsev’s got one more year left on his deal with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, and Igor Eronko notes that Lokomotiv’s president has already confirmed they’d allow him to pursue other opportunities — if it comes to that.
Eronko also states that Zaitsev’s intention to sign in the NHL still hasn’t changed, so odds are the Flyers will be revisiting his interest and plans sometime in the future.
