While most fans conduct hockeydb searches when the news breaks on a new signing out of Europe, this is the culmination of literally years of recruitment efforts by the Maple Leafs.
Agent Dan Milstein, who commended the Leafs‘ success with Russian players on the radio the other day and has now agreed to terms with Toronto on three notable KHL free agent clients (Nikita Zaitsev, Ilya Mikheyev, and Alexander Barabanov) in the past four years, mentioned that Mike Babcock paid a visit to Barabanov over two years ago when the Leafs began their pursuit of Barabanov.