Although his performance wouldn’t indicate that, Vadim Shipachyov will leave a big mark on the Vegas Golden Knights. He will go down in the history as the first Golden Knights player who retired. The information was confirmed on the team’s official Twitter profile.
General Manager George McPhee addressing media post practice. “Vadim Shipachyov has voluntarily retired from the NHL.” Shipachyov is eligible to play in the KHL immediately. Team recoups pro rated amount of the signing bonus, his salary is off the team’s books.
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 9, 2017
The 30 year old Russian, however, didn’t end his career. He wasn’t happy playing for the Golden Knights and wanted out. Although the team had a trade in place for him, Shipachyov wanted to go home. To make this possible, he had to give the majority of his $2 million signing bonus back.
“Sometimes it just doesn’t work,” – team’s GM George McPhee said. “Sometimes the player you see in Europe isn’t the player you see here, and that’s the risk you take when you sign them and you’re hoping that it works out and it doesn’t always work out.“
Shipachyov’s retirement from NHL means that his salary is now completely off Vegas Golden Knights’ books and that the team has an open spot on their roster. Shipachyov, on the other hand, will most likely sign for KHL’s SKA.
After an explosive 2016-2017 season for SKA Saint Petersburg, where he had 26 goals and 50 assists, Vadim Shipachyov signed a two-year, $9 million deal with the Vegas Golden Knights. He was previously a member of Russia’s national team that won a gold medal at the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championships.
Although he supposed to play a prominent role in the team, during the first month of the season, he spent more time with the Golden Knights AHL affiliate. He ended up playing just 3 games and scoring 1 goal for the team, before wanting out.
“He needed to play,” – McPhee explained team’s decision to have Shipachyov play for their affiliate team. “Everyone here was playing better than he was. He needed to play and we were willing to have him play in Chicago.“
