RUSSIAN OUTTA HERE 

Huge news out of Hartford is that Sergei Damagin and Maxim Kondratiev have left the team. While there has been no announcement from the team in regards to what they plan to do, it is a safe assumption that both will go to the KHL where they can make far more money than they would in Hartford.

Demagin is especially bothersome because he had signed to come and play in Hartford. In the two games Howlings saw him play in, he seemed to have quite a bit of talent and could have been an impact player.

Kondratiev is not that much of a surprise. Head Coach Ken Gernander told Howlings after the last exhibition game that, “Quite Frankly we’re going to have to sit down with Maxie and ask him. He came to the Rangers for a tryout and we’ll have to ask him if he’s interested in playing at the AHL level and find out where his head’s at.”

Obviously that question has been answered.

The next question is who steps up to fill those positions? Also, with talk of the need for another D-Man in NY and no money to do it with makes brining up Corey Potter or Brian Fahey a very likely possibility. Given the glut of forwards in NY with Dan Fritsche, Petr Prucha, Patrick Rissmiller and Fred Sjostrom it is not beyond the realm of possibility that one or even two could wind up in Hartford.

One other wrinkle is “What about Brendan Shanahan?”

How this all will shake out is anyones guess…

Here’s the official release from the organization:

Graham Signs AHL Contract, Demagin and Kondratiev Released

Hartford Wolf Pack general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the team has signed defenseman Ethan Graham to an American Hockey League contract, and that the Wolf Pack has released forward Sergei Demagin from his AHL contract and defenseman Maxim Kondratiev from his training camp tryout.

Graham, a second-year pro out of Michigan State University, split last season between the AHL’s Iowa Stars and the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. In 47 games with Iowa, the 6-2, 190-pound native of Xenia, Ohio tallied one goal and added four assists for five points, and logged 36 minutes in penalties. In 10 contests with Idaho, Graham notched one goal and served two PIM.

In four years in an MSU uniform, Graham, 26, played in 162 total games and amassed 11 goals and 39 assists for 50 points, along with 100 penalty minutes. He helped the 2006-07 Spartan squad win an NCAA title and won the team’s Most Outstanding Defenseman award that season.

Demagin had signed an AHL deal with the Wolf Pack June 30th, after playing most of the previous three seasons with Dynamo Minsk in Belarus. Kondratiev, an eighth-year pro, had attended both the New York Ranger and Wolf Pack training camps on tryout agreements. He played four games in the NHL with Anaheim last season before returning to his native Russia to skate with SKA St. Petersburg.