August 20, 2008 | 10:30am ET
Legein quits, Filatov's coming TheFourthPeriod.com
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Blue Jackets top prospect Stefan Legein has decided to quit hockey.
Legein, who turns 20 in three months, was the team's second-round draft pick in 2007.
"Stefan has informed us that he's not coming to (training) camp," GM Scott Howson told the Dispatch. "We're surprised that Stefan has decided that this is what he wants to do. We're surprised it's come to this.
"We knew there were issues with Stefan going back to last spring. We've talked through it with him and we haven't had any success."
Legein's agent, Doug Woods, refused to comment on the report, but did not deny speaking to Howson.
However, Legein's father, Chris, told the paper, "Until Sept. 20 [when training camp starts], he hasn't quit anything."
Meanwhile, Nikita Filatov, drafted sixth-overall by the Blue Jackets' in June, was granted his U.S. visa, and will travel to Columbus in September.
"It'll be good to have him here," Howson said. "There's always a little bit of doubt in your mind until the visa is official, and until the player is cleared to come here. [The timing] gives him a couple of days to get situated before he heads off to [prospects camp in Traverse City, Mich.]."
