Klementyev Signs In Russia

Anton Klementyev Signs With Lokomotiv Yaroslavl,

Ending An Interesting Tenure In The Isles Organization

It appears that Anton Klementyev has jumped ship following his suspension for refusing to report to his ECHL assignment. You may remember Klementyev as the extremely unknown pick in the 2009 draft that then Isles Assistant General Manager Ryan Jankowski referred to as "It's a little bit of a stab in the dark" when explaining the selection in the 5th round (122nd overall) or as the player that the Islanders tried to use as a pawn to get Kirill Petrov out of his contractual obligations in the KHL. 

It's obvious that the Islanders were not expecting Klementyev to become an important piece of their organization, and he was quite aware of that. During training camp I heard rumblings that he was unhappy with his treatment by the club and that if he didn't get a call to the National Hockey League at some point throughout the season he would bolt to Russia once the year commenced. Unfortunately for him he was used in a limited role by the Sound Tigers and nine days ago was assigned to the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL by the Islanders. He refused to report and was then suspended by the Isles. As his destination remained in limbo his agent apparently was working on a contract for him as news came out today that he has signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl who is playing in the VHL this season after the tragedy they experienced back in September, and next season will return to the KHL. 




Ok, I'm going to go a little off-topic for a second, but I want to mention it especially because I was thinking about as I wrote this piece....Klementyev grew up playing in Lokomotiv's system, went to Yaroslavl whenever he was in Russia, and had a number of friends on the team. Had he not been drafted by the Islanders and brought over to North America, I think its reasonable to say that he could very well have been on that Lokomotiv flight that tragically went down earlier this season...Just something to think about, especially when you consider that this kid was someone that wasn't on anyone's radar and was picked very out of the blue. Its interesting the way things work.