Former NHLers Among KHLers Cancelling Contracts During Playoffs

A host of former NHLers have left the KHL during the league's playoffs amidst the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine.

The hockey fallout continues.

Ufa's Markus Granlund and Geoff Platt, as well as Sibir Novosibirsk's Nick Shore, have cancelled their KHL contracts despite their teams being involved in the playoffs. This comes following the invasion of Russia against Ukraine. 

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman also reported that Kenny Agostino, a 2022 American Olympian, has left Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo.

Former Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders forward Shane Prince, who has also represented Belarus internationally, has signed with HC Lugano in Switzerland after terminating his contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg this week as well. Yekaterinburg did not advance to the KHL post-season, unlike the others.

All four players that have backed out of the KHL playoffs have played internationally. Granlund has skated with Finland; Platt, a Canadian-born forward, has played for Belarus for much of the past decade; and Shore and Agostino both played for USA at the Olympics last month.

The KHL playoffs began this week following the premature end of the regular season prior to the Beijing Olympics. 

The official reasons for any of the player departures were not published by the individual teams, but after Dinamo Riga severed ties with the league and Jokerit backed out of the playoffs, the KHL continues to see repercussions of the situation in Ukraine right now.