When the St. Louis Blues lost Vladimir Sobotka to the KHL in the summer of 2014, it was a disappointment, but understood. The Blues were smart not to put up the kind of money the Russian league was willing to pay for a guy that was a third line player in the NHL.
Nevertheless, the Blues were happy to have him back when he returned. They desperately needed someone who was feisty, threw their body around and won faceoffs.
Unfortunately, not all those skills came back to North America with Sobotka. Playing in Russia, and getting slightly older, took some of the sting out of Sobotka’s game.