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Could Semyon Varlamov Head To The KHL?

Bigger hockey fans can correct me if I'm wrong, but the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) seems like the kind of league that threatens to steal top-flight talent from the NHL, but succeeds rarely. Sure, they have some stars, but even though it is the best league in Europe, the overall talent pool doesn't really compare. 

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So when a report comes out that Semyon Varlamov, a restricted free agent for the Capitals, is considering signing in th KHL after the season, I'm tempted to dismiss it as merely a leverage ploy. But I also could be wrong. Here's the report from Yahoo! Sports' Dmitry Chesnokov.

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↵↵#Caps Varlamov's Russian agent says "a few elite KHL clubs are interested in Semyon" and that Varlamov "is considering the possibility."    

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Again, it feels like a leverage ploy, especially because Varlamov is a restricted free agent. But who knows. Maybe Varlamov is legitimately frustrated by all the goalie competition he faces and Bruce Boudreau's "ride the hot goalie" philosophy. Maybe he just wants a steady job for once, even if it's not an NHL job. 

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Of course, if it's the latter that he wants, he should hope to be consistently healthy for once.

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