On Thursday, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov stated through his agent’s X account, “I had some misunderstandings with the coach [Dean Evason] during the season. Now I would be glad to have a trade. I would like to move to a different location. Will I return to Russia? As long as I can play in the NHL, I will keep developing here.”

Chinakhov’s agent, Shumi Babaev, added to his client’s statement, telling Aaron Portzline of The Atlantic that Chinakhov “is comfortable with this team. He’s comfortable with this city, But he’s not comfortable with this coach. It’s all about the coach.” Babaev said he didn’t see any way his client could stay in Columbus.

“If you remember, [Chinakhov] started the season on the first line and he was fantastic. And then he’s on the third line, and that’s it. Third line. The coach doesn’t tell him anything. Why? Why would you do this? It should be something that should be [explained] about why he did this.”

In an interview with The Atlantic, Columbus general manager Don Waddell acknowledged that Chinakhov “fell out of favor” with Evason. Waddell added that he would continue to engage in talks with other teams but that he was not going to trade Chinakhov just to trade him.