A recent article popped up this weekend about the KHL team, Salavat Yulaev Ufa, actively trying to get Anton Slepyshev to return to his home country to play for them. 

You can find the article here. Thankfully I had my friend, Google, translate it for me and I’m pretty sure I know the Russian language better than ever now! The article is pretty straightforward, multiple sources have confirmed that the team is trying their best to convince Anton to return home and play with them. Anton Slepyshev played with Salavat Yulaev for three seasons before he signed his ELC and joined the Oilers club in 2015.  He was originally a third-round draft pick in 2013 and put up a combined 38 points in the three seasons with Salavat Yulayev.

First of all, absolutely not! You cannot take Anton Slepyshev from us. If we lose another winger on our team I’m going to flip every table in sight and will have a miserable summer because of it.

Obviously, I would hate to give up Slepyshev to the KHL right now and think it would be a bad idea for the Oilers to let him go. Sleps will be an RFA at the end of the season and is currently getting paid $925K for the past year.

If the Oilers were to re-sign Slepyshev his next contract will likely fall at $874,125. He’s currently paid $832.5k annually and if qualified, he would get a 10 per cent raise on that figure.

There’s a good chance the KHL could offer Slepyshev not only more guaranteed money, but a bigger role on a team than the one he’s had with the Oilers during his time in North America.

After a pretty successful playoff outing last year, Anton Slepyshev had a rough start to the season as he injured his ankle in training camp. He’s been battling nagging injuries as the season goes on, which led him to play in a one game conditioning stint in the AHL. With that, Sleps has only played 35 games this year with the club and put up five goals and five assists. As much as the lineup has been mixed around this year, Slepyshev has found himself to be a consistent bottom six forward for us.

There has been a lot of conversation this season about what to do with Anton Slepyshev in the near future, but at the end of the day, I think it’s in the Oilers best interest to find a way to keep the guy in our bottom six.

Do you guys think there’s a chance Slepyshev would take an offer from the KHL? What kind of position would that put the Oilers in if it were to happen?