One of the selling points on the Colorado Avalanche taking Ilya Nabokov, beyond his incredible rookie season in the KHL, was the fact that he had just one season remaining on his contract in Russia.

If the GM of Metallurg is to be believed, the Avalanche could have to wait a little longer to get Nabokov in North America.

Sergey Gomolyako, Metallurg’s GM, held a press conference with the head coach ahead of their season opener, which takes place in less than a week. The question was asked if Nabokov’s contract would be extended with the team. His answer was pretty interesting…

“We met with the agent, talked. Ilya’s priority is to stay for another year. We will negotiate. There will be an understanding closer to the new year,” Gomolyako said.

This could just be a GM of a team trying to sell to the fans before the start of the season that they’re looking to get their star goaltender under contract. It could also be very true. We really don’t know, as Nabokov hasn’t said much on the subject. CHN has been trying to speak to Nabokov since the draft, but we haven’t been successful yet with the language barrier. After Nabokov was selected with Colorado’s first pick, his agent said the following to CHN when asked if he will come to North America after his current contract expires.

“We’ll make a decision soon,” Shumi Bubaev said.

There are still plenty of variables in play, and it is notable that Metallurg’s GM mentioned having a better understanding closer to the new year. If Nabokov takes a step back and doesn’t have as strong a season, he may be more willing to re-sign and continue developing in the KHL. For all we know, the Avalanche might be okay with that. He’s in a pretty good situation right now with a starting job at just 21.

On the flip side, if he’s repeating what he did as a rookie around the new year, the Avalanche may push even harder to get him to North America in 2025, as they currently have just one goaltender under contract beyond this upcoming season. Another strong year could also convince the goaltender that he’s ready for a new challenge.

Either way, we’ll have to wait and see how things play out and we’ll certainly be monitoring the situation. Metallurg’s season opens on Sept. 3 and I’ll be watching him closely all season long.