It's becoming more and more likely Andreas Athanasiou will leave the Detroit Red Wings for Russia.

Darren Ferris, Athanasiou’s agent, told the Free Press today that “because of the huge disparity, the KHL has moved to more of a probability at this time.”

Athanasiou, a restricted free agent who does not have arbitration rights, is believed to have an offer of one year in the range of $2.5-3 million from AK Bars Kazan. The Wings fattened their initial offer from one year at $1.25 million to two years at $1.9 million per year.

The Wings are 10 days from the start of training camp. Losing Athanasiou would leave them without their most dynamic player. Athanasiou, 23, nearly hit the 20-goal mark in his second NHL season, producing 18 goals among 29 points in 64 games. He’s a dynamic winger with the speed to create a scoring opportunity out of nowhere, and the hands to close on that opportunity.

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General manager Ken Holland, en route to the ribbon-cutting this morning of the new $863-million Little Caesars Arena, told the Free Press via text there is “nothing new” on the talks.

Entertaining offers from the KHL – a league that can throw money around – is one of Athanasiou's few means of leverage. He's only been in the NHL for two seasons, meaning he's only halfway to becoming arbitration eligible. In July, Tomas Tatar used the bargaining power of arbitration to sign a four-year deal that will pay him an average annual value of $5.3 million.

This season, the KHL could hold extra appeal for Anthanasiou since it's an avenue to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The NHL has decided not to let its players go to the Olympics.

The situation is messy because of the KHL offer, and because the Wings are tight against the $75 million salary cap ceiling. NHL teams may exceed the upper limit of the salary cap by 10% during training camp, however. They have to be cap compliant the day before the regular season begins.

If Athanasiou does bolt for Russia, the Red Wings would retain his rights and his status in the NHL would go unchanged.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.