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It’s been assumed that Vladimir Sobotka would be leaving the KHL and returning to the Blues for the 2016-2017 season. Is this an exciting development for the team? Eh. Sobotka would be a welcome addition, but after the off-season that the Blues had, losing David Backes to the Boston Bruins and Brian Elliott to the Calgary Flames, some fans were hoping for some more exciting news than “Sobe’s back.”
Well, this doesn’t qualify as exciting news, but the current drama around Sobotka’s return qualifies as interesting at the very least. These tweets by Post-Dispatch Blues reporter Jeremy Rutherford had fans scratching their heads earlier today:
Sobotka has told Blues multiple times that he is returning to St. Louis. Have his plans changed? Story never ends. https://t.co/XdZIXV1VlM
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) August 18, 2016
Being reported Vladimir Sobotka will soon join Avangard. Omsk has a new head coach which was significant to Sobotka decison. #stlblues
— Siberian Tiger (@Siberian91Tiger) August 18, 2016
Armstrong spoke with Sobotka's agent, Petr Svoboda, YESTERDAY and the agent said Sobotka will rejoin the #stlblues this season.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) August 18, 2016
Oh, look, conflicting news out of the KHL. How surprising.
Currently, according to Rutherford, Sobotka is in the Czech Republic awaiting finalization of his KHL contract. According to Championat.com, Sobotka will be joining Avangard after they fired Eugene Kornoukhova and replaced him with coach Fedor Kanareykin.
Personally, I’m more apt to believe Doug Armstrong and Jeremy Rutherford over a Russian sports site.