Deputy General Director “Sochi » Sports operations Alexei Badyukov said in an interview with that the Russian club has now decided to release the striker Marata Khusnutdinova to the NHL teamMinnesota Wild “so he can move this spring from a rookie contract to a full deal next season.
Khusnutdinov played 55 games for Sochi and SKA Saint Petersburg in the last KHL regular season, scoring 20 (6+14) points. At the end of February, the Wild reached a two-year deal with the 21-year-old forward. Minnesota selected the player in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft, 37th overall.
— Did Sochi get what it expected from Khusnutdinov?
– In general, yes. Marat brought a lot to our team and became captain. And we can say that they managed to build a trio around him with Michkov and Tyanulin. For now, he has decided to try his hand in North America. We’ll see how he does.
— What do you think his prospects are in Minnesota?
“We released Marat so he would have the opportunity to finish his rookie contract this spring and secure a full deal for next season. He is not the first to take this path. He has a real chance to compete with the other “centers” in Minnesota; he now has to find himself in a new league, in a new country. We will contact him, that’s what we agreed. But we will still be happy to see him in Sochi. We have the rights to it in the KHL,” Badyukov told .
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Source : MatchTV
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