As per a report by Pavel Lysenkov of NHL.com, the Washington Capitals have agreed to a one year contract worth $925K with KHL forward Sergei Shumakov. Shumakov was a right-handed shooting left wing earlier along with the CSKA Moscow. He finished 18th in the KHL points last season and tallied 40 points in the 47 games he played.
Lysenkov tweeted saying, “Sergei Shumakov signed a contract with ‘Washington’. The two-way contract of the newcomer is $925k for one season.”
Washington’s interest and the availability of Shumakov was first known on Monday via a tweet put up by Russian reporter Igor Eronko. Shumakov was not going for the training camp of CSKA as an attempt to come out of his contract. After the CSKA failed to get a trade partner, the club released Shumakov which made his a free agent on Monday. It was at this moment that the Capitals dived in and both the parties reportedly reached to an agreement.
As per reports, the latest deal will give the Capitals one more skilled winger to the club’s already solid forward ranks. Shumakov is a talented stick handler as well as goal-scorer. He has scored a brilliant goal in the KHL.
He has been a consistent player at the KHL level and has made an average of .51 points in each game during his 282 contests in the KHL. The main question which pops up here is whether Shumakov will be able to translate to the NHL norms.
As per CapFriendly, the Capitals had a cap space of $1.1 million available with them even before the reported contract signing. It further reported that this recent contract is an entry-level deal. Moreover, Shumakov’s agent also responded to the signing, as per Aivis Kanins. “I do not hide that I’m currently in contact with several NHL clubs regarding the future of Shumakov,” said Shumakov’s agent to Sport-Express.
