The Winnipeg Jets have re-assigned defenceman Artemi Kniazev to the KHL.
The Manitoba Moose - in conjunction with the Winnipeg Jets - have sent defenceman Artemi Kniazev to the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.
The 22-year-old blueliner will now suit up in his homeland for the duration of the 2023-24 season, marking his first set of games in the top Russian league.
The Kazan, RU. product played his minor hockey in Russia before coming to North America as an import to the QMJHL from 2018-21.
Kniazev went back to Russia during Covid before turning pro with the San Jose Sharks organization, to which he was drafted 48th overall in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft.
He has played the past two years with the AHL's Barracuda putting up 12 goals and 56 points in 121 games, before being dealt to the Jets in exchange for uncooperative German defenceman Leon Gawanke this offseason.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound defenceman has skated in 20 games for Manitoba this year, putting up just five assists. Often lacking in the defensive zone, Kniazev has not even been able to rely on his offence this year, thus prompting the loan to Torpedo.
Kniazev will remain under contract with Winnipeg through 2023-24, but the club will be required to qualify him by the league-imposed deadline. Should the Jets fail to do so, he will walk as an unrestricted free agent. Should he sign with Torpedo or another KHL club, he would remain on Winnipeg's reserve roster, unless the Jets choose to deal his signing rights elsewhere - much like that of the Gawanke situation.