Vladimir Sobotka Begins His Second NHL Stint with a Bang
Vladimir Sobotka quickly made an impact in his return to the NHL.
After forward Vladimir Sobotka spent almost three full seasons away from the NHL, went roughly three weeks without playing in a professional hockey game, and endured a draining flight from Eastern Europe to North America, it would’ve been fair to wonder how much of an impact he’d make in his first NHL game since 2014.
Sobotka quashed those doubts on Sunday evening, though, providing validation to the fans who have been begging for him to return to the Blues over the past three years. Three days after rejoining the Blues on a long-term deal, the 30-year-old forward scored a goal while making contributions on both the power play and penalty kill units as the Blues defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in their regular season finale.
Sobotka was named the first star after the game, quickly softening the stances of the fans who had been hard on him as he dealt with a three-year-long contract dispute. In the first star interview with FOX Sports Midwest’s Darren Pang, Sobotka said, “I missed (the fans) too. Like I said, I really appreciate the support of (the fans), and thank you very much.”
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Particularly if center Paul Stastny remains sidelined for the beginning of the Blues’ playoff run, it’s likely that Sunday’s performance was enough for Sobotka to earn a spot in the Game 1 lineup as the Blues face the Minnesota Wild. Despite the late-season improvement of rookie winger Zach Sanford, it doesn’t seem like it’d take much for Mike Yeo to insert Sobotka in the forward spot that’s been rotated among Sanford, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Nail Yakupov over the late part of the season. Sobotka provides a much more physical presence than the lanky Sanford, and he’s got previous playoff experience.
It will be interesting to see if Sobotka can carry his newfound reputation as a legitimate offensive contributor over to the NHL. Much like the many disappointing MLB players who go to Asia or NBA players who go to Europe after flaming out in North America, plenty of NHL players have gone overseas and dominated the inferior competition, only to return to the NHL and become non-impactful role players once again.
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Sobotka is a bit of a different case, though, since he left the NHL on his own terms after his age 26 season. There are still quite a few questions that he needs to answer–whether he’ll detract from his linemates’ performance when paired with top-six players and whether he’s become durable enough to consistently stay on the ice, among others–but Sunday was an encouraging start to his second stint in the NHL.