According to Andrew Zadarnowski Los Angeles Kings pending free agent, Nikita Scherbak has signed with Avangard Omsk of the KHL as reported by Sports-Express. The deal is expected to be made official on July 1st.
Nikita Scherbak has signed with Bob Hartley’s Avangard Omsk of the KHL as reported by Sport-Express. They are just waiting until July 1st to make the announcement.
Sven Andrighetto has an offer from them as well, but is waiting to see if he gets qualified by the Avalanche or not.— Andrew Zadarnowski (@AZadarski) June 12, 2019
Nikita Scherbak Signs Overseas
During his brief three-year NHL career Sherbak played for the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angles Kings. He has put up six goals and two assists for eight career points in 37 career games. He was originally drafted, 26th overall of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Habs.
Scherbak had a goal in eight games last season after being claimed off waivers from the Canadiens on December 2nd, 2018. He also added two minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 56.2 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 6.0.
What This Means for the Future of Nikita Scherbak
The move back to his home country comes as no surprise for the 23-year-old winger who is from Moscow, Russia. He spent most of his time in North America playing down in the AHL. In 168 career AHL games, Scherbak had 32 goals and 74 assists for 106 career AHL points. He had two solid years in the AHL during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. In 2016-17 he put up 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points in 61 games. The following year he put seven goals and 23 assists for 30 points in 26 games, Scherbak also spent 26 games with the Habs that year where he put up four goals and two assists for 16 points.
Scherbak would join an Avangard OMSK team that is coached by Bob Hartley and that has former Habs defenceman Alexei Emelin on the roster along with few former NHL players. Zadarnowski also mentioned that Colorado Avalanche defenceman Sven Andrighetto could also be joining the team if the Av’s don’t re-sign him. Andrigetto is an RFA heading into the off-season. Avangard lost in the Gagarin Cup in six games to CSKA.
