Further Confirmation Sobotka to Stay in KHL

A week after the KHL announced Vladimir Sobotka will be staying in Russia, confirmation arrived from the NHL and STL Today:

The Blues finally have their answer: Vladimir Sobotka is not coming back to the NHL in 2015-16. Sobotka's decision to play in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League for a second straight season was recently confirmed to Blues general manager Doug Armstrong by Sobotka's agent, Petr Svoboda. Sobotka, 27, will remain on the Blues' reserve-suspended list. The confirmation ends months of uncertainty surrounding the forward's plans.

Sobotka, who signed a three-year, $12 million-plus contract with Avangard Omsk of the KHL last offseason, had two weeks following the IIHF World Championships in May to exercise an "out" clause in the contract and return to the NHL. The two weeks came and went without any official announcement from Sobotka's camp. Svoboda, his agent, had not returned multiple messages left by the Post-Dispatch and even the Blues had not heard from him. Then in late May, a report in Russia indicated Sobotka would play the 2015-16 season with Omsk.

"We had a conversation with Vladimir Sobotka, and we agreed that he is a player of our club for another season," Avangard president Vladimir Shalaev said, according to the report.

Still, as of mid-June, the Blues had not been informed.

"I haven't heard from (Svoboda) yet, so I think that the reports ... are premature," Armstrong said at the time.

But now the news has been confirmed, and the Blues know they'll be moving on without Sobotka for a second straight season.

Sobotka's NHL rights will remain with the Blues, and when he returns, he must play one season with the club at a salary of $2.7 million. Armstrong could also elect to trade him, but thus far has said the club has no intentions of doing so.

NHL.com:

The St. Louis Blues announced Monday that forward Vladimir Sobotka will not return to the Blues for the 2015-16 season. Sobotka, who joined Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) last season, will remain in the KHL. The 27-year-old Trebic, Czech Republic native has played in 247 games with the Blues, registering 29 goals and 72 assists (101 points).