Russian forward Alexander Radulov has left KHL team Salavat Yulaev Ufa and "in the coming days" will rejoin the Nashville Predators, his agent Yuri Nikolaev told RIA Novosti on Monday.
Radulov has a year to run on his contract with the Predators, where he has been suspended without pay since leaving for his native Russia in 2008.
“Radulov will go to play out his contract with Nashville. Alexander has already left Ufa, and in the coming days he will fly to America,” Nikolaev said.
“Everything’s been done according to the regulations. We had an absolutely legal conversation with the Ufa club.”
Salavat Yulaev would continue to hold the player’s rights if he returns to Russia in the future, Nikolaev added.
With his team Salavat Yulaev Ufa out of the KHL playoffs, Radulov could return to the Predators and see out his contract before becoming a free agent in the summer and able to cash in on his status as KHL MVP in 2010 and 2011.
Predators coach Barry Trotz said that Radulov would “probably” arrive Tuesday and that he expected to have the player in his line up for Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in comments on the NHL website Monday.
Nashville had expected Radulov to arrive at the weekend, but this had been delayed by his release talks in Russia, Trotz said.
“His agent said he was planning to make his way to Nashville. It was the release that was holding him up. That's why he stayed the extra couple of days. He was planning to get on a plane on Friday,” he said.
Radulov won the Gagarin Cup with Salavat Yulaev in 2011, and has scored 25 goals in 50 regular season games for the team this season, notching up 38 assists.
