Traktor Chelyabinsk’s General Manager, Yevgeny Gubarev has released a statement regarding Vitali Kravtsov’s situation. It is more complicated than most fans realize.
Some people, me included, have speculated Kravtsov would be released 5 days after the team was eliminated as they did in 2014 with Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Comparing the 2 situations made sense, until you look at the bigger picture. In 2014, the NHL was in year 2 of a new CBA following a lockout and there was no reason to retain the rights to Kuznetsov who at the time was almost 22 years old.