LeBrun thinks "for sure" Sobotka will return from KHL to Blues next season

Pierre LeBrun was on Montreal’s TSN 690 on Thursday evening.

On the issues in the KHL and which players might come back to the NHL:

“The one guy for sure that I think will come back is Vladimir Sobotka, who was a heck of a player for the St. Louis Blues the last couple of years. The Blues were really unhappy that he bolted. He had a contract dispute with the Blues this summer. In fact, the Blues actually went to arbitration without him in the room. He was awarded a one-year award that he’s going to have to honor if he decides to come back to the NHL next year, and I think he will, for reasons that are now obvious. But I think he was going to come back anyway. He signed a three-year deal in Omsk, but he has an out and a one-month window to get out of it at the end of the year, and I think it’s almost a sure thing that he will.

“So he’s a pretty good player, and he’ll have to play in St. Louis – unless the Blues trade him. And I can tell you from talking to GM Doug Armstrong a few weeks ago that he has no interest in trading Sobotka. That he wants to have him in St. Louis next year.”

Source: TSN 690/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey