Report: Babchuk Back To Russia

Carolina GM Jim Rutherford said he was close to dealing defenseman Anton Babchuk. Apparently, not close enough. Reports out of Russia say Babchuk has signed with Avangard of the KHL.

Steve Zipay of Newsday has heard the same.

over 2 years ago Cory Lavalette 12 comments 0 recs |

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Someone else’s headache next time contract negotiations roll around and he decides he is the most important goal scorer on the team.

by Iggy Reilly on Sep 20, 2009 10:29 PM EDT reply actions

Actually, not.

We will still own his rights when he returns for some reasonable length of time (at least 2-3 years.)

Remember when the Panthers had a good offensive line? Yeah, me too.
--Darin Gantt

by MichaelProcton on Sep 20, 2009 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Chip has more on this from Rutherford and Babchuk’s agent.

CanesCountry.com: An Eye On Carolina Hockey

by Cory Lavalette on Sep 20, 2009 11:17 PM EDT reply actions

What a bummer.

We didn’t even get anything for him!

Still not a crook!

by TrickyD26 on Sep 20, 2009 11:25 PM EDT reply actions

We still have his rights so if he ever wants to play in the U.S. again he still belongs to us !!! He will never come back to the NHL however b/c he never seemed happy here and plus he is from Russia and likes to play close to home. I hated him defensively but man he had a killer shot. I would have preferred to trade him for something but to bad. He needs to be gone b/c his attitude towards the US, it’s contract dealing etc… was terrible. Good riddance !!!

by Holty_Panthers_Fan on Sep 20, 2009 11:37 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, that stinks!

It really is a downer that we didn’t even get anything for losing him, but, on the bright side, the Canes shouldn’t be affected too much by his decision. I tend to feel worse for the teams that lose key players to leagues abroad.

by PittsburghCaniac on Sep 21, 2009 12:50 AM EDT reply actions

this is not that bad, we couldnt pay him what he wanted so hes leaving,
he will be back again.
and he will be good again.
i can see you all eating your words in 1-2 years when he is scoring from the blueline again.

there is no need to come down on babchuk because he is being a little unreasonable, thats his decision.
and we still own his rights.
this is win win,
-we dont have to pay him this year (and we have a solid D core)
-he can go practice up in russia (he knows what he has to work on now, it was all over the media)
-hell come back again (every hockey player wants to be in the nhl, at least young ones)
-and wehen he does come back we can still trade or play him.

by chrisj on Sep 21, 2009 8:48 AM EDT reply actions

it would be different story if he was creating a big hole in this team (i.e. Wings, Caps)…but for us this is not so

by chrisj on Sep 21, 2009 8:49 AM EDT up reply actions

Eating what words?

He has a good shot.
His play in his own end is mediocre when he’s at his best.
He’s a douche.

I somehow don’t see any of those things changing.

Remember when the Panthers had a good offensive line? Yeah, me too.
--Darin Gantt

by MichaelProcton on Sep 21, 2009 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions

apparently babchuk is officially with avangard omsk

http://www.thekhl.net/

by salim on Sep 21, 2009 11:48 AM EDT reply actions

Maybe he can go to Russia and learn how to aim his shot. I know he had a big shot but he never knew where it was going, which means most of his goals were just luck.
Yes I know alot of goals are luck but there is players that can aim there shot.

by canescup on Sep 21, 2009 3:19 PM EDT reply actions

Like I said earlier, he needs a little maturity—-and some patient coaching on being defensive in his own end. He may have gotten bad advice or he wouldn’t have changed agents recently. We still have his rights, so we may have another saga next year. But, for now, we don’t have to worry about being on the receiving end of his big shot !!

GO CANES! Go Heels!

by UNCCaniac8 on Sep 21, 2009 10:47 PM EDT reply actions