The Nashville Predators announced on Wednesday that they will not bring back forward Alexander Radulov, allowing him to return to the KHL or continue his NHL career with another team.
Radulov, who turns 26 next month, left the Predators in 2008 to sign with Salavat Yulayev of the Kontinental Hockey League. He had one year left on his contract with the Predators when he left, which he would be required to honor should he choose to return to the NHL. After Radulov's KHL season ended in March, the Predators allowed him to fulfill his contractual obligation by returning for the remainder of the NHL regular season and playoffs. Radulov had three goals and four assists in nine regular-season games before scoring a goal and assisting on five more in eight playoff games. He was suspended for the third game of Nashville's Western Conference semifinal series against the Phoenix Coyotes when he and teammate Andrei Kostitsyn missed curfew.
Between the KHL situation and the missed curfew before a playoff game, Radulov has given the Predators too many headaches to be allowed to stay, so in that sense, this announcement is something of a no-brainer. What's curious, however, is why the Predators would tip their hand and announce to the world that they have no interest in re-signing the talented winger. Predators general manager David Poile said he would look to trade Radulov's rights or let him return to the KHL, but announcing that the Predators have no interest in bringing him back could weaken Poile's position on a trade.
At the same time, however, Radulov's checkered history with the Preds does make the decision fairly obvious, so Poile probably wasn't giving away any state secrets. Poile likely feels that the value he can get for Radulov's rights - likely a draft pick of some sort - is going to be determined by Radulov's value to his new team, and not to his value with the Predators. It may also be, of course, that Radulov is highly likely to return to Russia, and a trade for his rights wouldn't be especially likely in the first place.
Reports came over the weekend that the New York Rangers had inquired about Radulov, and also that KHL club CSKA Moscow is highly interested. It will be interesting to see where this one goes.