Talented forward leaves the NHL after the Sharks don't respect his trade request

The news comes in light of the recent rumours that both he and the KHL have a mutual interest in each other.

His agent, Yuri Nikolaev, informed Championat's Pavel Panyshev that his client has received interest from multiple KHL teams. Ultimately, signing a two-year deal with Ak Bars Kazan.

Barabanov wanted to be traded at the deadline and while there was a ton of interest from NHL teams including the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. However, the San Jose Sharks decided to keep the skilled forward, and now he is leaving the NHL entirely.

Barabanov, 30, is set to return home to Russia, where he was born and played the first seven seasons of his pro hockey career.

He came to the NHL in 2020–21 to play with the Toronto Maple Leafs and after 13 games with the club, he was dealt to the Sharks. He would play for the team for four seasons, scoring 106 points in all during that time.

Barabanov joins a long list of Russian-born NHL players who left the KHL to come to North America to play in the NHL before ultimately returning home to continue to play in the KHL.

Credit: KHL & Euro Talk
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