On Thursday, Sergei Fedorov notified the Washington Capitals that he chosen to sign with KHL team Metallurg Magnitogorsk for two years. Fedorov claims he opted to go with Magnitogorsk to honor his father’s life-long wish of seeing his sons (Fedor already plays there) on the same team.
Fedorov will receive $3.8 million per season and now joins the likes of Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Yashin as former stars in the KHL. Fedorov originally defected from Russia to join the NHL and his switchover is somewhat fitting. He leaves the NHL, possibly for good, with 3 Stanley Cup rings, a Selke, Pearson, Hart, and Kharlamov awards.
He also leaves as the most prolific Russian-born player in NHL history with 483 goals, 649 assists for 1,179 points. The next active player that comes close with points is Slava Kozlov with 827. Hopefully Fedorov will get one last nod by the national team for the 2010 Olympics as he was included in the 2008 Mens World Team.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk is the team which Evgeni Malkin left when he defected to the NHL.
