At the entry draft in June teams were interested in the rights to Evgeni Nabokov, but no one attained them, and at the start of free agency he was adamant in receiving a large playday, as his right, but he essentially priced himself right out of the NHL. He ended up signing a multi year deal with SKA St. Petersburg in the Russian KHL. In an article written by Dimitry Chesnokov on Yahoo's Puck Daddy blog, Nabokov was quoted saying the following "Let me ask you, would you want to play for the Edmonton Oilers, for example?" [laughter] "Let me tell you that when you have a choice and you have something to choose from, you always want to play for a good team, compete for medals and such. I will speak for myself, but the situation was such that I had no choice of a good team to play for and to play at the high level. To me it was very important to play for a good team, to try to win" (editors note: the NHL leading Philadelphia Flyers were interested in Nabokov, but apparently they aren't good enough for Evgeni)
Fast forward to a month or so ago (or would be rewinding technically?) when Nabokov is released from his KHL contract. He then returned to America and has been looking for a team to play with. Enter the Detroit Red Wings. With injuries to both Jimmy Howard and Chris Osgood the Red Wings need a starting goalie to cover the injuries. All due respect to Joey MacDonald, but he is not a starter in this league. He isn't playing poorly, but with the tight Western Conference, the Red Wings cannot afford to play sub .500 hockey and they are currently 1-2-1 with MacDonald in net. Detroit and Nabokov negotiated and came to terms on a one year deal worth approximately $570,000, but it has been prorated to less than $300,000. Given these attractive numbers, and the fact that since Nabokov played overseas he is subject to the waiver rules of the NHL. Before he can officially become a player on the Red Wings roster, he must clear waivers, and ultimately he did not, as the the Islanders claimed him. Now things get interesting if they weren't already. Reports are coming in that Nabokov will not report the Islanders, and due to him coming from overseas after December 15th, he cannot play in the AHL this season. So now the ball is in the Islanders court as to what to do with him. I can't even begin to accurately explain their options so I will instead let you go read it from TSN's Bob McKenzie as to what the Islanders can choose to do, or not do. Go ahead read it. I'll wait. Back? Does your head hurt now? Good.
Based on his comments and actions in the off season, as well as his behavior now, I think the Islanders should do whatever they can to stick it Nabokov. This is a case of someone who wants their cake and eat it too. He wanted a large paycheck and when he didn't get it in the NHL he ran to the KHL only to wind up missing his family over here. Now there is nothing wrong with that, no one can begrudge a man for missing his wife and kids. However, his decision to only play for a contending club is ridiculous. Looking at his KHL numbers (8-8-5 3.02 GAA and .888 SV%) it would almost appear that he was let go for poor performance more than than anything else. One would think that he would want a chance to play and prove himself for a decent contract next year. The idea of earning his place seems lost on Nabokov, who apparently has a grand sense of entitlement. At the end of the day, he is an athlete who gets paid to play for a living. That's something almost anyone would jump at, and yet he seems to think it is his given right to be where he wants getting paid what he wants. What. The. Puck?!
I already linked Dimitry Chesnokov's twitter above, but follow Bob McKenzie on twitter too if you're not already.
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