Be he Spurgeon or be he Kichton 2.0?
On a day when it looked like one long-ago New York Islanders draftee might finally jump from the KHL, another one looks headed to a different kind of freedom.
In a surprise, 2008 pick (3rd round, 73rd overall) Kirill Petrov's situation is still murky yet suddenly interesting. In much less of a surprise, it looks like 2011 pick Robbie Russo's (4th round, 95th overall) rights will be lost to free agency after he completed his senior NCAA year at Notre Dame.
Islanders beatwriter Arthur Staple of Newsday tweeted that tidbit on Russo, which is consistent with what Staple has surmised and shared in previous updates.