Family Reportedly Convinced Canadian Player to Back Out of Lucrative Deal

Hockey players don't need to play in the NHL to make very good money. Many with little to no NHL experience have had lucrative careers in Europe and Russia, including several from Canada and the United States. However, according to a new report, a Canadian player who had become a fan favourite in the Russian city of Omsk left very good money on the table to get out his contract. The team says his family convinced him to do so.

Corban Knight, who hails from British Columbia, Canada, has decided to cancel his lucrative deal with Omsk Avangard of the KHL. Knight had played there for the past three seasons, and won a Gagarin Cup with the team while putting up great offensive numbers and endearing himself to fans. Avangard's GM has since said Knight made the call for personal reasons.


According to Championat, Kuryanov went on to explain that Knight's wife objected to him playing in Russia due to religious reasons.



Knight's salary with Omsk last season was 55 million Rubles. At the time, it was worth close to $770,000 USD. KHL contracts often include performance bonuses that don't count towards the team's salary cap, nor are they often made public. $770k puts Knight around the minimum pay for the NHL, where he played just 52 games over the years with Calgary, Florida and Philadelphia. There are already reports that Knight has interest from SC Bern, a team in Swtizerland's National League where players generally make between $100,000 and $300,000 USD per season.