Alexander Radulov turned down an opportunity to become the KHL’s highest-paid player in order to join the Montreal Canadiens for $5.75 million this season.
The 30-year-old Russian sniper reportedly turned down an offer from CSKA Moscow that would’ve paid him $7 million U.S. annually and seen him supplant ex-NHLer Ilya Kovalchuk as the KHL’s highest-paid skater.
This information was reported by Sportfakt.ru as part of a list of the 30 highest-paid KHLers and tweeted out in English by KHL reporter Aivis Kalnins — who notes that these numbers do not include bonuses.
Fun timing. SKA St. Petersburg’s Kovlachuk and Pavel Datsyuk ($4.5 million), the league’s top-two salaried stars, combined to score a goal in 11 seconds from face-off Monday:
After a controversial playoff run last spring, Kovalchuk is off to a torrid start with SKA, scoring 29 points in his first 22 games with the league’s top club this season. Datsyuk, the former Red Wings star, is nearing a point-per-game pace as well.
Other notable names on the KHL’s highest-paid list include former Los Angeles Kings defenceman and suspended NHLer Slava Voynov ($4.5 million), St. Louis Blues property Vladimir Sobotka ($3 million), and KHL all-time scoring leader Sergei Mozyakin ($2.177 million).
Valeri Nichushkin left the Dallas Stars this fall after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract as a restricted free agent. The 21-year-old CSKA winger ranks 24th on the list, with a salary of $1.21 million.
Here is the full list, translated via Sportfact.ru:
