After one of the best seasons of his NHL career, Maxim Afinogenov has decided to take his game to the KHL, reportedly signing a five-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg according to Dmitry Chesnokov. Coming off back-to-back disappointing seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, Afinogenov signed what was essentially a one-year tryout contract with the Atlanta Thrashers prior to the 2009-10 season, and went on to score a career-high 24 goals, finishing the campaign with 73 points, the second-highest mark of his 10-year career. His totals during this past season were better than his previous two seasons ... combined. Even though his career has been a model of inconsistency, he was one of the best forwards available in a thin crop of free agents, so it's a pretty big score for the KHL.
It's also been an extremely productive offseason for SKA when it comes to landing established NHL players, as the club previously signed former San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to a four-year contract in July. The team is coming off a 40-10-6 regular season record (second-best regular season mark in the league), which was followed by an opening-round upset loss in the playoffs to Dinamo Riga.
This past season SKA featured former NHL players Alexei Yashin, Sergei Zubov, Petr Cajanek, Nils Ekman, Alexander Korolyuk, Sergei Brylin and Robert Esche.
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