After not playing in what was supposed to be his AHL debut Saturday night, Vegas Golden Knights forward Vadim Shipachyov has been officially suspended without pay, according Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. According to Engels, if Vegas does not trade Shipachyov before Monday, the team will likely begin a termination of his contract, forcing him to return to Russia.
As reported yesterday, Shipachyov had practiced Friday with the Chicago Wolves after being assigned there Wednesday with everyone assuming he would make his debut Saturday. Instead, he opted to not play and returned back to Vegas to be with his family.
The 30-year-old center has had a turbulent time since joining the Golden Knights. The former KHL star was expected to be one of the stars on a struggling expansion team when he was signed in May of this year, but instead has had to deal with a logjam of non-waiver eligible players, which forced him to get demoted to Chicago to start the season. He never played for Chicago, however, as he was allowed to stay in Vegas until the team could fix their roster issues. Three games later, Shipachyov made his debut and scored his first and only goal of the season.
However, Shipachyov’s playing time began to diminish from that point on as he was criticized by his coach, Gerard Gallant, for struggling to adjust to the NHL game and was again re-assigned to Chicago when scorer Jon Marchessault returned from IR last week.
Why would terminating his contract force him back to Russia, couldn’t he sign with another NHL team?
Terminating his contract wpuld also terminate his work visa. He could sign with another team but he’d have to go back to Russia until he signs and can secure another work visa.
Oh ok, didn’t even think about his work visa.