1:45 p.m.: Dater followed up his story by reporting that the Avalanche and Kamenev’s agent, Mark Gandler, say the report is not true.
12:34 p.m.: When the Colorado Avalanche completed their big three-team blockbuster trade in which they traded center Matt Duchene for a host of picks and defenseman Samuel Girard, the team also picked up prospect Vladislav Kamenev from Nashville. The then-21-year-old looked to be close to NHL ready and a be a potential depth piece for the organization. However, after two challenging seasons in the Avalanche organization, Kamenev looks to be heading elsewhere.
Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater writes that the 24-year-old is expected to sign overseas this offseason with SKA St. Peterburg. Kamenev is a restricted free agent after signing a one-year bridge deal last offseason for $750K.
Kamenev came over with a chance to step right into Colorado’s lineup in 2017 and in his very first game with his new team, he broke his wrist after taking a big hit from Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik. He only played three NHL games that season. He struggled with a shoulder injury the next season, only appearing in 23 games in 2018-19. Kamenev played in 38 games this season, but averaged just 8:59 of ATOI throughout the season for a goal and eight points. Perhaps more importantly, he also didn’t make the playoff roster out of training camp.
The move seems to make some sense in several areas as the young forward wasn’t getting the playing time in the NHL and he was recently acquired in a KHL trade by SKA for Nikolai Prokhorkin. Kamenev would likely get significant time in Russia and with the delay in the start of the 2020-21 season in the NHL, it makes more sense to move overseas and develop his game there.