Rumor: Andrighetto has agreed to a KHL contract while playing for the Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This is a bizarre story. 

Earlier this week reports began to surface regarding Colorado Avalanche forward Sven Andrighetto and a brand new contract, and now what the future may hold for him is far from certain. Now that may seem odd to you, given that Andrighetto and his Colorado Avalanche are currently still very much in the hunt for the 2019 Stanley Cup Championship and in fact are currently all tied up with the San Jose Sharks at 2 games a piece headed into Game 5 later this evening, and that is because it is. 

The idea that a player or his management would negotiate with another team while your focus is meant to be entirely on winning hockey's holy grail is something akin to blasphemy, but these are credible reports with credible reporters backing them. According to the rumors Andrighetto would have agreed to a new deal with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League at some point in recent history, although for what it is worth both he and his management team have denied the reports of him signing the contract are true. 

Andrighetto himself was quick to issue a denial regarding the potential deal in the KHL and given that his current team remains in the playoffs its not hard to imagine why he would want to keep that on the quiet end of things. That being said though it is also not hard to imagine why he may have opted to bolt for the KHL given the current treatment he has received in the National Hockey League as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, especially so far in the postseason.

It is clear that the Colorado Avalanche no longer really see Andrighetto as a part of their core group and that has never been more evident that during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Andrighetto has been made a healthy scratch on the regular in the playoffs and in fact has only appeared in a single game during the Avalanche's second round series against the San Jose Sharks. On top of that the 26 year old winger has also seen his ice time drop considerably during the regular season, with him playing under 10 minutes per night since the month of March. 

Andrighetto informed TSN NHL insider Pierre LeBrun that he would wait until the season was over to decide his future, all while denying the reports from the KHL, but something tells me there is more truth to this rumor than Andrighetto is letting on.

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