Andrei Markov to play in the KHL next season after moving on from Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens have announced that 38-year-old defenseman Andrei Markov will not be back with the team for the upcoming 2017-18 season. Markov has been an unrestricted free agent since the market opened in July, and has announced that he will head to Russia to play in the KHL for the upcoming season.

Markov has been with the Canadiens for all 16 years of his NHL career, playing in 990 games in a Montreal uniform. Last season, the defenseman posted 36 points in 62 games and still remains a fine top-four blueliner despite his age. Besides being a skilled puck mover, Markov is also a great addition on the back end of a power play.

The writing may have been on the wall for Markov before the start of free agency. In June it was reported that the defenseman was looking for a two-year, $12 million extension to stay in Montreal, a mere $250,000 bump from his previous paycheck. While the Canadiens have approximately $8.46 million in cap space, according to Cap Friendly, the team went out and signed Mark Streit to a one-year, $700,000 deal.

With Streit signed for the next year, the Canadiens had eight defensemen under payroll and Markov was seemingly the odd man out. Markov confirmed that thinking in a press conference to the media later on Thursday, saying that while he wanted to return to the Canadiens, they did not want him back.

With Markov heading to the KHL, Team Russia has found itself their No. 1 defenseman for the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics. Markov said he fielded offers from other NHL teams, but decided to go to Russia instead. The 38-year-old is the latest Russian free agent to leave the NHL, though it seems Markov was either going to play for Montreal or for no NHL team at all rather than the Olympics being a deciding factor.