It’s not that he was going to come over to North America at this point in his career, but there was some doubt if Sergei Mozyakin would continue at all. The all-time KHL scoring leader has decided to come back for one more season (at least), signing a one-year extension with Magnitogorsk.
Mozyakin, 39, is one of the great players that decided never to try his hand at the NHL. The legendary Russian forward now has 735 points in 647 games since the KHL was formed in 2008, not to mention his countless awards and trophies. A two-time Gagarin Cup champion, Mozyakin also has Olympic and World Championship gold medals to his name and has served as captain of the Magnitogorsk team for the better part of a decade.
It’s hard to really know what he could have accomplished if Mozyakin ever did decide to play in North America, but you can bet he would have made it fun to watch. The flashy forward still routinely makes highlight-reel plays and once tallied 48 goals in a 60-game KHL season.
He’ll turn 40 before this contract ends, but technically is still on the Columbus Blue Jackets reserve list. Because draft rights are held indefinitely for Russian league players, that ninth-round, 263rd overall pick still has him attached to the Blue Jackets organization. Last summer, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) profiled Mozyakin as “the greatest Blue Jacket who never was.”