Nabokov Going Home To Russia

Evgeni Nabokov has called San Jose his NHL home for all 10 years of his career in the league. But once the Sharks cut him loose after another failed push toward the Stanley Cup, the 34-year old decided to really go home. It was announced on Wednesday that Nabokov is moving to the SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League on a whopping four-year, $24 million contract.

The average salary in that deal is $6 million, which is what Nabokov was believed to be seeking in a new deal with an NHL club. Unlikely to find that kind of cash, it made sense for him from a financial standpoint to take the pact in his home country. Unfortunately, at just 34 years old and with plenty of gas left in the tank, it's a shame to see him give up the opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup. When his contract expires with SKA Saint Petersburg, Nabokov will be 38 years old and probably off most teams' radar as a No. 1 netminder in the NHL.

But once the Sharks kicked him to the curb and chose to go with some other in-house options to join up with new addition Antero Niittymaki, Nabokov earned ever right to go to whichever team he desires. Even if that team is not in the NHL.

Nabokov has plenty of support from his family, according to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. He will be more wealthy as a result of this move, since no team in the NHL was going to grant him a $6 million per year set of paychecks. And he has the opportunity to join up with fellow-NHLers like Alexei Yashin, Sergei Brylin, Peter Cajanek, Darius Kasparaitis, Andrei Zyuzin and Sergei Zubov (Interestingly enough, fellow former-NHLer Robert Esche sported the crease for SKA Saint Petersburg the last two years.) Plus, as LeBrun so aptly points out, this deal in the KHL conveniently expires around the time of the 2014 Olympics in Socchi.

So, while it would have been nice to see him return with an NHL club next year, the grass was obviously greener for Nabokov in Russia.