explain much to a player about their playing time, but in the United States and Canada, NHL coaches don’t need to explain a thing: They direct. You execute. Fail to do so, or get outclassed by someone else vying for your spot, and you can find yourself very easily on the bus to Binghamton.
Kaigorodov was Ottawa’s second-round pick (47th overall) in the 2002 draft after leading Russia to a gold medal at the 2001 world under-18 championship. He has spent the previous five seasons with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Russian Super League, recording nine goals and 23 assists in 50 games last year.
The 6-foot, 190-pound left-hander is a natural passer and skater. He signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Senators in September 2006; One month after his contract was voluntarily suspended by Metallurg. In his first six NHL games, he had just one assist and was a plus-1 while averaging only four minutes, 52 seconds of ice time.
The Senators, at least publicly, have attempted to put this situation behind them. Out of sight, out of their plans.
Likewise, the AHL doesn’t like to showcase the troubles with international players who say “nyet” to demotion. Jason Chaimovitch, Vice President of Communications for the American Hockey League, says the AHL “doesn’t keep statistics on players who refuse to report to our teams.”
Yet it does happen. Kevin Oklobzija, who has covered the AHL’s Rochester Americans (Amerks) for the past two decades for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, says it is a most unusual circumstance.
“Euros are different than North American players,” he says. “When a Canadian or [an] American signs, he goes where he’s told. Some Euros view the AHL as a lesser league than what’s in Europe and only came to North America to play in the NHL.”
Oklobzija said that while the Kaigorodov case is strange, it is not unique.
“A guy signed by St. Louis [Carl Soderberg] opted to return to Sweden after NHL training camp rather than play in Peoria,” he says. “Another Euro, Magnus Kahnberg, opted to report to Peoria. He had the option to go home as well.”
Safe to say, Kaigorodov will never play for Ottawa again. Muckler says he will trade the player if there is a team interested, but otherwise will hold onto his right until he becomes a free agent . . . when he’s 27 . . . in 2010.
Nothing precludes Kaigorodov from playing in mother Russia, or in Europe for that matter, which have no reciprocal agreements with the NHL. Needless to say, though, wherever he plays, the taint of his snub of the largest professional hockey league in the world is likely to stay with him wherever he goes until, or if, he decides to grow up and behave like a professional hockey player.
"He never gave himself a chance," Muckler told reporters. "It was unfair to Bryan what he said. The coach did the proper thing."
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