Dave Isaac

@davegisaac

PHILADELPHIA — The situation regarding the Flyers, their first-round draft pick and Russia's Kontinental Hockey League is about as unclear as can be.

German Rubtsov wants to get out of his KHL contract, where he is getting minimal ice time, and sign with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League where he'll play more and the Flyers would be able to watch him easier.

Recap of Flyers prospects in 2017 World Junior Championships

General manager Ron Hextall raises his hands as if a weapon is being pointed at him, though.

"It’s got nothing to do with the Philadelphia Flyers," Hextall said. "This is Chicoutimi and German, his agent and Russia. We’re really just kind of a bystander."

Rubtsov's agent, Mark Gandler, did not return multiple attempts to contact him, but in a Russian article wouldn't confirm or deny a report from RDS that Rubtsov had gotten clearance to terminate his KHL contract so he could play in Chicoutimi. If that were to happen, the Flyers would almost instantly sign Rubtsov to an entry-level contract.

"Honestly I thought it was 50/50, personally," Chicoutimi head coach and general manager Yanick Jean told the Courier-Post in November. "For me, we knew he was not going to be here when the season started. We’re just hoping the season started. We just hoped that thing would come true during the season."

Rubtsov was in Chicoutimi Friday and Saturday was at Wells Fargo Center being checked out by Flyers doctors. He was injured in the World Junior Championships, leaving a game against Denmark with a broken nose and concussion.

"I thought he was good," Hextall said of Rubtsov in the tournament. "He played a lesser role. As an 18 year old they typically do, but he played a lesser role, a checking role and he was good at it. He didn’t have a ton of responsibility, a ton of minutes, but we liked what we saw. He was given a role and he played it."

The Flyers would love to see him more often and closer, in Quebec as opposed to Russia. Rubtsov was listed on the Saguenéens roster as a scratch recently, but that's as close as anyone has come to confirming anything. Gandler is still trying to get the KHL to terminate the contract, something the Russians surely wouldn't be happy to do for a potential star.

"I have a lot of understandings in this," Hextall said, "but I don’t have a whole lot of concrete facts.

"The only way for him to leave is for him to have his contract terminated and that’s got nothing to do with us. We’ve all heard Chicoutimi. I’ve heard. I know, but I don’t know whether he’s gonna get terminated or not. We’ll see."

According to Hextall, Rubtsov will be fit to play in a matter of days, maybe a week if he ends up needing surgery on his nose.

So what does the player, who speaks little to no English, have to say about all this?

"Uh, ‘hi’ and ‘thank you,’" Hextall said. "God’s honest truth."

It's an odd situation for the Flyers and one that doesn't appear to have a quick fix.

"I don’t know," Hextall said. "It is what it is, right? We knew what we were up against when we drafted him. We like him. We like the player. We like the kid. We’ll see what happens."

Dave Isaac; (856) 486-2479; disaac@gannettnj.com