You don't make more money at the end of the day playing in Russia like he did.. If it was about money he would have been in North America years ago. It's also what is making it harder for him to get this contract done right now. I'm sure at the end of this he will take Guerin to the cleaners but he has cost himself a small fortune staying in Russia. But he has his reasons and good for him if he has done what is best for him.
From his past interviews, it's obvious Kirill took the safest route to the NHL at the behest of his father's advice. He wanted Kirill in Russia for development reasons while also making good KHL money.
Many NHL fans have an insane sense of entitlement and crap on their players when their NHL team isn't the center of a player's universe. They overlook that going to the NHL is very risky, especially when your not fully developed. It's a completely different world from where Kirill is from; so many things can go wrong.
You realize that his agent at the time didn’t want him to play in North America, and wouldn’t even allow a sit-down between the team and player at the WJC, right? I’m sure from his end it seemed like we didn’t try, but it’s far from the truth.
His agent had nothing to do with the lack of communication at the WJC. Coach Bragin prohibited players from talking to NHL teams during the WJC. It's standard practice. Players were (and still are) expected to commit themselves 100% to team Russia and not use the WJC as opportunity to explore future professional options. This isn't anything out of the ordinary.
From all indications, in those years Minnesota didn't show much interest in him outside of when they thought communication would be the easiest (international tournaments).
I mean seriously, it wasn't that difficult to have a representative fly to Novokuznetsk during an off-season and establish a face-to-face relationship. Apparently Minnesota didn't even bother doing this.
