Veteran player leaves the NHL after San Jose Sharks refuse to trade him

There have been rumors circulating lately that have linked Barabanov to the KHL, and those rumors have come true, as he has signed a two-year deal with AK Bars Kazan.

Barabanov demanded a trade from the San Jose Sharks at last year's deadline, and he did garner a huge amount of interest from other teams. Two front running teams who came close to landing him were the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. For some unknown reason, the Sharks refused to honor his request and ultimately did not decide to trade him anywhere. He is not happy at all about this, and wants nothing to do with the Sharks or the NHL anymore.

Barabanov is 30-years-old and is returning to his home land of Russia, where he spent the first seven seasons of his career before coming to the NHL.

His first season in the NHL was the 2020-21 year, where he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs for 13 games. He was then traded to the Sharks, where he played the following four years, totalling 106 points for them.

Barabanov is not the only player to recently leave the NHL for the KHL, as Evgeny Kuznetsov has just made the same move a few days ago, taking an absolutely massive pay cut to be able to return to his home and native land of Russia.

Source:
KHL & Euro Talk on X