21-year-old winger; Nikita Filatov has signed a one year contract with Salavat Yulaev of the KHL. The Ottawa Senators acquired Nikita Filatov from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2011 draft for a 3rd round pick.
Filatov was drafted 6th overall in the 2008 NHL draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. There was a lot of hype around this young prospect when he was drafted. He left Russia to come playing in North America for the 2008-09 season. He played 8 NHL games during that season scoring 4 goals. He played the rest of the season in the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Falcons, totaling 16 goals and 16 assists in 39 games. Filatov made the Blue Jackets out of training camp for the 2009-10 season. He played 13 games, scoring twice. The Blue Jackets wanted Filatov to get more developement so instead of going to play in AHL for another season he returned to Russia and played for CSKA of the KHL. Another season went by and Filatov proved to be a disappointment again. He played 23 games with the Blue Jackets in the 2010-11 season. He had 7 assists. He played the rest of the season in the AHL with the Springfield Falcons where he had 9 goals and 11 assists in 36 games.
After the 2010-11 season the Blue Jackets were very disappointed with the development of Filatov, so traded him to the Ottawa Senators. He played 9 games this past season for the Senators in which he recorded 1 assist. He was assigned to the Binghamton Senators of the AHL. He had 7 goals and 5 assists in 17 games for Binghamton, but instead of continuing to finish the season in North America, Filatov again decided to go back to CKSA of the KHL. He had 8 points in 18 games with CKSA.
After disappointing attempts to stay in the NHL with Columbus and Ottawa, Filatov decided to sign a one year contract with Salavat Yulaev of the KHL. He was set to become a restricted free-agent on July 1st so if the Senators want to keep his rights they will have to send him a qualifying offer. If contract in the KHL is only one year so there is a possibility he may return to the NHL after next season but many believe that his time playing in North America is over.
Salavat Signing Rating: B+, he has a better attitude while playing in the KHL and seems to preform better there
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