Radulov told Sports Express that his mind is set on Salavat for "the next three years" and indicated that his contract is more valuable than the one he signed with the Predators. He claims he notified the Predators of the possibility that he will sign with a Russian squad.
"I repeatedly told them that I had an offer from Ufa and had the enormous desire to play in Russia," Radulov said. "I warned them that I had been offered better conditions than I had in Nashville. They listened and said that they will get back to me. As of now, there was no call. It seems like they didn't really want me to stay, or probably - they did not think that take this step."
Yesterday, the NHL reached an agreement with Russia's Continental Hockey League (KHL) that was supposed to end the threat of players being lured away by big-money contract offer.
"Everyone in the room agreed that for the foreseeable future everyone will respect everybody's contracts," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Canadian Press.
In an email to TFP, Daly said he "would be surprised if this was true" given the NHL's deal with the KHL.
However, Radulov's agent Yuri Nikolaev said his client's contract with Salavat was agreed upon two-days prior to the new agreement between the two leagues.
Given the differences in time zones, the Predators weren't notified of the signing until early this morning.
"So far, no one [in Nashville] knows, as this just occurred several hours ago," Radulov said at the time of the interview.
Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton told TFP's Editor-in-Chief David Pagnotta this morning that the club is aware of the reports, but mentioned that he cannot comment on the situation.
"We're waiting to speak with league officials [before we can comment publicly] and we'll take it from there," Fenton said.
Radulov added that his father was originally against him leaving the Predators, but has since warmed up to the idea.
In 81 games with the Predators last season, Radulov registered 26 goals and 32 assists for 58 points. He was drafted 15th overall by the Preds in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
