An injury that Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom received during a training session has put his NHL lockout switch to KHL team Dynamo Minsk under threat, the Belarusians said Wednesday.
Dynamo announced Tuesday that the Finn had agreed to the move and would likely arrive in the capital of Belarus by the end of the week.
But Dynamo coach Kari Heikkila said now it was all in doubt.
“The arrival of Niklas is not decided. Yesterday he got injured in training. That’s why is it possible that he won’t join us,” Heikkila in comments carried by the team's website.
He insisted there were still other channels of cooperation even if Backstrom can't play.
“It is possible that Backstrom will come to Minsk and help us in the training process.”
Backstrom has made 327 appearances for Minnesota so far during six seasons with the Wild.
The deadline for averting a lockout passed Saturday after the NHL and the players’ association failed to agree terms on a new collective contract.
It sparked a flurry of signings, the highest-profile of which include Evgeni Malkin's return to Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Alex Ovechkin’s to Dynamo Moscow.
