Less than two weeks after reportedly having his contract terminated in the Swedish Hockey League, former first-round NHL draft pick Kerby Rychel has signed in the KHL. It's a one-year deal with Neftekhimik, based in Tatarstan.
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Rychel, 24 years old, was selected 19th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013. He requested a trade out of Columbus due to a lack of playing time in the NHL. He was shipped to Toronto in exchange for defenseman Scott Harrington. After spending two more seasons in the AHL without any games played with the Leafs, Rychel, Rinat Valiev and a 2018 second-round pick were sent to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Tomas Plekanec and Kyle Baun. Rychel would only play four games for Montreal, spending the rest of his time with the Laval Rocket of the AHL. In August of 2018, Rychel was traded to Calgary in exchange for Hunter Shinkaruk. His NHL playing time did not improve with there, getting just two games with the Flames and spending the rest of his time in the minors. In June of this year, after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Flames, Rychel signed a one-year deal with Örebro HK. Less than a month after signing, his contract was reportedly terminated. While the team itself stated Rychel asked to leave the club for personal reasons, several reports said Rychel's contract was axed after he showed up to training camp out of shape, and he did not perform well in preseason games.
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