Rumor: Gold Medalist Artyom Zub has committed to an NHL team.

It seems as though the National Hockey League is about to add an Olympic Gold Medalist to its ranks.

According to a breaking news report from The Athletic's Hailey Salvian, the Ottawa Senators have secured a commitment from defenseman Artyom Zub who is currently playing for SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League. Now it has to be said that a commitment is not an official signing of a contract, however according to Salvian's sources it would be extremely surprising to see Zub get cold feet at the 11th hour. 

This is a huge get for the Ottawa Senators who were reportedly just one of at least 3 NHL teams that were trying to secure Zub's services for the upcoming season, and given the defenseman's pedigree it comes as little surprise to learn he was drawing a ton of interest around the league. The stay at home style defenseman has spent the last several seasons playing in a top 4 role for SKA St Petersburg and has collected a ton of international experience while playing outside of the NHL. Zub collected a pair of bronze medals at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Championships in 2017 and 2019 respectively, and he also boasts a gold medal to his name from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics as well. 

Zub really raised some eyebrows in the NHL this season however when his offensive production hit a sudden spike, with Zub all thw while maintaining that same level of stay at home play that he has become known for. Zub recorded 13 goals and 9 assists for a combined 22 points on the season and finished with a very respectable plus minus rating of +25 this season, by far the highest totals of his career in every respect. For some contezt here, prior to this season he had just 6 total goals in the KHL and only 26 total assists over 6 seasons combined.

The Ottawa Senators are reportedly confident that Zub is an NHL ready player that will be able to help them immediately, which bodes well for a team that is currently going through a difficult rebuilding period.