After playing in just a handful of games this season, Dmitrij Jaskin is going back to Russia. The free agent forward has signed a new one-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.
Jaskin, 29, played with Dynamo Moscow during 2019-20 and 2020-21, showing he could be a dominant offensive player at the KHL level. In 117 regular season games, he racked up 69 goals and 123 points, winning the MVP award in his first year there. That led to an NHL return this past season when he signed a one-year, $3.2MM deal with the Arizona Coyotes, though that went about as poorly as one could have hoped.
Starting slow, he had one point in 12 games despite receiving reasonable ice time in his first month. Unfortunately, during a game against the Nashville Predators in November, Jaskin suffered a serious knee injury that ended his season.
Given that he is still just 29, there is at least a possibility of another return in the future, though Jaskin hasn’t really done anything to prove he can handle NHL minutes. In 315 games, he has 27 goals and 70 points, his last full season coming in 2017-18 with the St. Louis Blues. Since he has found so much success in the KHL, this latest departure may be the last time hockey fans in North America see the big winger.