A hockey player Mikhail Maltsev told that he had an agreement with “Los Angeles” that the NHL club could release him to Russia this winter if by that time he did not have a chance to play in the main team.
Maltsev, 25, was born in St. Petersburg, played in the SKA system and left for North America in 2019. Before last season, the center forward’s rights were traded to Spartak – Maltsev became one of nine SKA players traded for defender Alexander Nikishin.
On July 1, 2023, he signed a one-year contract for $775,000 with Los Angeles, but only played for Ontario Reign in the AHL and scored 14 points (4 goals, 10 assists) in 21 games. This week, Maltsev was loaned to Spartak, signing a one-year contract.
— You returned to Russia. What is your strongest emotion?
— Everyone speaks Russian. It’s really cool. Over the past month, I’ve gotten tired of speaking English. And for the first time, I didn’t have any Russians on my team. Nikita Pavlychev was sent to the ECHL and the Kings’ Vlad Gavrikov had a different schedule.
— You joked that you were ready to rent your apartment in St. Petersburg to Alex Galchenyuk. And from whom did they film it in Moscow?
“They just gave me a real estate agent and I quickly found one.” Apartment next to Megasport on Khodynka. I don’t have a car, I’ll walk. And I had the chance to rent for a short period. For a few months, until the end of the KHL season.
— You’ve said you view your career differently than just being an AHL veteran. But why did you sign a contract with the Los Angeles Kings this summer? Did you really think you would be promoted to the NHL?
— And no one was called up from the AHL in all the months. They told me honestly: “We understand you, but this is our situation. We are not yet promoting any agricultural club members.
I understood them, without wishing to offend you. I was told that I was almost the first to be called. But time passed and something had to be done. And we had an agreement that if I didn’t have any real luck before December, they could let me go,” Maltsev told .
Spartak is first in the Western Conference standings, winning 56 points in 41 matches.
Watch live broadcasts of the Fonbet KHL championship matches on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
