As the Calgary Sun has reported, Clay Wilson is the latest North American player to decide to give the KHL a shot, only his story has one added wrinkle to it. Wilson was still under contract with the Calgary Flames and was set to make $525,000 in 2012-13.
Wilson was a long shot to make the team, although because his contract was one-way, he was still entitled to the same paycheck either way.
Instead, Wilson decided to ink a one-year deal with Donbass Donetsk and the Calgary Flames have terminated his contract.
“He is no longer on our reserve list,” Flames GM Jay Feaster confirmed before adding, “We wish Clay and his family well as he pursues his career.”
Wilson is 29 and has only played in 36 NHL games, but this might not be the last we hear of him. Although their circumstances are far from identical, Mark Giordano’s NHL career didn’t take off until he decided to spend a year playing for Moscow Dynamo. It’s those kinds of stories that might inspire players like Wilson going forward.