M.L.’s Dwight King signs to KHL team

One of Meadow Lake’s most well-known hockey players is off to Russia for his next adventure on the ice.

The 28-year-old forward is in the midst of signing a two-year contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, a Russia-based team in the Kontinental Hockey League. The team announced the deal on their website yesterday.

“It’ll be kind of a new chapter,” King said. “They have a couple Canadians on the team already, and I was fortunate enough to talk to a family that lived in the city a couple years ago, which helped Lauren and I’s decision to commit to their hockey club for the future.”

He said it’s not only an opportunity for his hockey career, but a good opportunity for his family of four to travel.

“I think the hockey [league] is one of the better ones outside of the NHL,” King said. “At this time in my career, it’s just going to be a really neat life experience for my family and I. It’s an opportunity to see more of the world, and to have hockey involved in it is neat. To be able to do this at a good age when I’m still a competitive hockey player is nice.”

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King was en route to Toronto last night to start the paperwork he needs to be able to live and work in Russia. The contract he signed is an optional two years.

“We’ll see how it goes in the first year, and maybe it’ll be two,” he said.

He said the paperwork is expected to take four to five days, and once completed, the move will likely be quick.

King had an impressive run in the NHL as part of the Los Angeles Kings squad when they won two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014. Earlier this year, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, after which he became a free agent. He said he is looking forward to playing for the KHL.

“It’s going to be different, for sure,” he said. “The biggest thing for me is that it’s going to be right in the regular season, so I’m going to have to get up to pace pretty quick and kind of adapt as we go, and how quick I can learn a little bit of Russian.”

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath