Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said today that he could not completely confirm media reports out of Russia that defenseman Anton Babchuk had signed with Omsk Avangard of the KHL.
"There's a good chance it's true," Rutherford said. "I had conversations with his agent last night and I knew they had been talking back and forth. His agent asked Anton to wait until Monday.
"We're fine with it. He will be another year away from free agency and we retain his rights. He's still our property."
UPDATE: Babchuk's agent, Don Meehan, said it was his understanding Babchuk would play in Russia this season, although noting he had not yet confirmed it with Babchuk, either.
Rutherford had been trying to work a trade for Babchuk, a restricted free agent who played in Russia two years ago, forfeiting his arbitration rights. He said he talked with a team this week that initially had shown interest in a deal, backed away and then came calling again.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
Comments
Not quite, B_B
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 10:24 — MichaelProctonJR would have been happy to "hire him" as a hockey player. Just not for any more than the CBA required him to pay. It was Babchuk's choice not to play for that.
I feel
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 05:48 — esteban1949Like many of you, I too think that he seems to be on a self destruct mode...and while many young players strive and have the goal of making it in the NHL, it just seems that many don't get that far after the juniors...I wish him well...
Go Canes !!
pawn
Sun, 09/20/2009 - 21:18 — Biff_BeersI'm not about to argue the larger point that Babchuk has made some bad decisions and may have squandered his best shot at a long NHL career. It is very obvious now (and it was pretty obvious at the time) that he should have signed his qualifying offer from the Canes back in July. However, if I understand the RFA rules as applied to his situation, he has been at JR's mercy ever since. With no NHL team making a trade offer that JR liked, and with JR being unwilling to hire him even to sell popcorn, Babchuk's only choices were to play elsewhere (such as the KHL) or not play at all. In that situation, I don't fault him for choosing to play in the KHL. I wonder if he offered to play in Albany? That would be ironic since his refusal to play there was his first big mistake.
Babckuk and the NHL
Sun, 09/20/2009 - 15:23 — abramsdougBabchuk seems to be somewhat self-destructive. He will have played in Russia two out of three years if the information about the signing is true. His decision-making tends to make it far more likely he will not play in the NHL next year. In the meantime, the Hurricanes have managed to obtain a number of talented players on defense. It is a shame for Babchuk's sake that he made those choices if his desire was an NHL career.