Sens chasing players to Russia?

While reading a KHL season preview on the New York Times' Slapshot blog, I noticed just how many former Senators are going to be playing key roles for the various teams in the Russian league. Here is a listing of them:

1. Ray Emery, G, Atlant Mytishchi
   No need to rehash the Emery Saga.


2. Alexei Yashin, C, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
   I don't really want to go over Yashin's Senators' career, either. It's well-documented.


3. Oleg Saprykin, C, CSKA Moscow
   Saprykin was a pretty big part of the fourth line during the Sens' 2007 cup run (even though he only had two points), but it was rumoured that GM Bryan Murray didn't like the qualifying offer issued to him.


4. Alexei Kaigorodov, C, Metallurg Magnitogorsk
   Drafted in the second round of 2002 by the Sens, Kaigorodov was pencilled in as Ottawa's second-line centre for the 2006-07 season, but when things didn't go his way he left North America and went back to Russia. The Sens traded his rights to Phoenix for Mike Comrie.


5. Petr Schastlivy, LW, CSKA Moscow
   Another second-line centre hopeful, Schastlivy played parts of five seasons with the Senators, but never really panned out. He was traded to Anaheim in 2004.


6. Joel Kwiatkowski, D, Severstal Cherepovets
   Kwiatkowski had a few stints with the Senators, but played most of his time with the organization for the Grand Rapids Griffins when they were the Sens' affiliate. He also had a stint with the Binghamton Senators.
   


7. Mike Fountain, G, Lada Togliatti
   Played in two games for the Senators, and 88 for the Griffins. Not spectacular
   


8. Ivan Ciernik, F, Sibir Novosibirsk
   Good ol' Ivan was drafted in the ninth round of the 1996 draft, and played 29 games for the Sens while being bumped around all sorts of AHL teams. Then he went to a German league, and now he's in the KHL.
   


9. Filip Novak, D, Dinamo Riga
   No, Filip Kuba is not the first defenceman named Filip that ever played for Ottawa. Novak played 11 games for the Sens in 2005-06, and 64 for Binghamton in the same season. He did well, too, scoring 58 points for the B-Sens in that season.
   

I guess there's something about the Senators' franchise and chasing players out of the NHL. Which is kind of a shame... good to see Russians like Ilya Zubov and Alexander Nikulin

aren't afraid to try and work their way onto the team.