I know a lot of you guys have been asking about what in the world is going on with Evgeny Artyukhin. I too have noticed that his name does not appear on any active rosters for the team and with the whole mess involving players signing out of Russia or into the new KHL in Russia, I wondered if there was any kind of a hang up on his two-year contract.

I’ve spoken to at least two different people today who are not aware of any kind of a problem. I have been informed by one person that the contract has already been approved by the league. Another who is connected with the league said they were not aware of any kind of a problem with the deal. The best explanation I have been given is that it has been handed off from the league to the player’s association before it receives final approval. I’m waiting to hear back from somebody involved with the player’s association to verify this information. But it sounds like there is no kind of situation such as those involving Alexander Radulov, Viktor Tikhanov or Nikita Filatov, who, along with a couple other contracts, are under investigation by the IIHF as to whether there are any violations in regards to the verbal agreement between the KHL and NHL not to raid the other league of players already under contract.

If this changes, I’ll let you know.

Also, since some may ask this if I don’t answer it, the contract for Vinny Lecavalier is still being reviewed, which is why he might show up as “unsigned’’ on a couple of websites. A source informed me that he believes the league has already approved the contract and that the NHLPA is reviewing the language in the contract to make sure it is all legitimate. I’m also waiting to hear back from somebody at the player’s association on this matter, but if there are any red flags, I’ll be sure to dig into it a little deeper.

UPDATE 6:05 P.M.

Just wanted to pass along that I heard back from the NHLPA and there is no issue with either contract, Artyukhin or Lecavalier. Artyukhin’s name won’t be listed on the NHLPA website until he appears on the NHL team website. So, it doesn’t appear that there are any kind of issues with the contract for either player. Hope that clears things up!!