As was stated by Ken in comments, Evgeny Artyukhin signed a 1 year deal with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Russian Elite league.
It can be looked at as a leverage move by Artoo but you have to wonder if the Lightning will still persue him with their head so close to the cap? Why do it when Mitch Fritz is avalible? Of course, I’d love to see Artoo back in the lineup for 2006-07 but we retain his rights for next year. If he can’t be signed cheap this year, he’d likely be back for the following season (with the likes of Nikita Alexeev and Ruslan Fedotenko heading out of town).
