Blackhawks prospect Artur Kayumov will play out his KHL contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in Russia before he plans to sign with Chicago, his agent told Scott Powers of The Athletic. Back in July, the agent said Kayumov was planning to sign with the Blackhawks after this season.
Kaymov, who turns 21 on Feb. 14, has five goals and 13 points in 40 KHL games this season. The 5-foot-11, 176-pound winger served a 13-game suspension after delivering a head shot to an opposing player and punching an official in early December. Last season, Kayumov had two goals and an assist in 20 KHL games.
Kayumov hasn’t attended a Blackhawks development camp since he was drafted in the second round of the 2016 NHL draft due to his KHL contract. The league’s deals often prevent players from attending NHL team development camps, so Kayumov’s contract isn’t an isolated case.
The Blackhawks drafted Kayumov with the pick acquired from the Hurricanes in the Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen trade.
Chicago has signed four players from its nine-player 2016 draft class in forwards Alex DeBrincat and Nathan Noel and defensemen Lucas Carlsson and Blake Hillman. Kayumov, defensemen Chad Krys and Jake Ryczek and forward Mathias From and goaltender Wouter Peeters remain unsigned.
DeBrincat is playing with the Blackhawks, while Carlsson, Hillman and Noel are in the AHL. Krys is a junior at Boston University and Ryczek is in his second season with Halifax in the QMJHL. From plays for AIK in Sweden’s second division, while Peeters recently joined JHT in Finland’s third-highest junior league after he was cut by the USHL’s Lincoln Stars.