On the heels of Giordano's defection, there's now word that Andrei Taratukhin has signed with Salavat in Russia. In fact, he's been added to their roster:
Last name on the list, identifiable by his birthday (22/02/83).
Now, this could be a contract that is contigent on Taratukhin not making the big club this fall. However, the Flames now face the possibility of losing another viable, NHL-ready prospect to Russia for no good reason.
Taratukhin's possible flight is apropos to my previous post detailing my annoyance with the Wayne Primeau signing and Matt's recent post on the loss Giordano: Sutter's penchant for filling the roster with veterans over rookies, despite the fact the young players in question are a.) cheaper and b.) likely to outperform (or at least provide greater cap value than) the incumbent vet is proving to be a damaging strategy. The result is the draining of future assets as they bolt due to the perception that there is no room for them on the roster.
This is not an encouraging trend, to say the least.
Update - The Calgary Herald and tsn are now carrying the story. The Flames organization has yet to comment.
