The reborn Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL hockey team is considering signing NHL stars after the North American league declared a lockout, Lokomotiv general manager Yuri Lukin told R-Sport on Sunday.
Lokomotiv spent the summer assembling a team for its return to the KHL after the entire roster was killed in a plane crash at the start of last season that left 44 people dead.
NHL stars Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar have already signed lockout contracts with KHL team Metallurg Magnitogorsk, but Lukin said it was early days for Lokomotiv to start inking deals.
“They only announced the lockout last night, and of course we haven’t signed anyone yet. But they’ve announced the lockout, we’ll meet up and think,” Lukin said.
Lokomotiv plays against Atlant Moscow Region on home ice Sunday, which Lukin suggested meant that the team’s thoughts were not yet on possible lockout signings.
“No changes have happened, we have a game today,” he said.
Lokomotiv won its first three games of the season before a 6-3 loss to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod on Friday snapped the streak.
