Maxim Shabanov: Coming Over Soon
The 24-year-old is still in Russia awaiting his Visa appointment.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that the New York Islanders shocked the hockey world when they won the Maxim Shabanov sweepstakes since they had won the Maxim Tsyplakov sweepstakes just a summer prior.
The shock was that Shabanov didn’t sign with the Philadelphia Flyers, which had been rumored for quite some time.
The Islanders are not only getting a young player on the cheap — he signed a one-year, entry-level deal worth $975,000 — but they are getting a player who is exciting to watch and, as head coach Patrick Roy told us, is a player who plays really sound in his own zone.
The question is, when will he arrive in North America?