Earlier this week, the Oilers released disappointing news that one of their top prospects, Ziyat Paigin, would be heading back to Mother Russia. It was surprising considering how excited Paigin was to come to North America and crack the Oilers roster just this past summer. At the time, the 7th round selection from 2015 seemed to be worth the wait. He has had an interesting career so far at just the age of 22.

The #Oilers have placed defenceman Ziyat Paigin on unconditional waivers.

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 21, 2017

The KHL route

Ak Bars Kazan drafted him during the third round 2012 KHL Junior Draft with the 82nd overall pick. That same draft also featured talented players now playing in the NHL like Aleksander Barkov Jr, Nikita Zadorov, Radek Faksa, and superstar defenceman Erik Karlsson. The difference between all of these players and Paigin? None of them played a single minute of their junior career with a KHL club.

After developing in their system, Paigin made his KHL debut with Kazan Ak-Bars during the 2014-2015 season, appearing in 33 regular season games and recording up two points (1G, 1A) with plus three and two PIMs. It was enough to impress the Oilers as they drafted the defender that June at the 2015 NHL Draft.

Logjam on the blueline

The following season, he only appeared in eight games with Ak-Bars. They were loaded on the blueline and their young defenceman was tolling away in the VHL, the farm league equivalent of the KHL. Kazan moved the young defender to HK Sochi where he found his game during the remainder of the 2015-2016 season. In 37 games played, he picked up 27 points (9G, 18A) and Oilers fans were excited to see the young 7th rounder, but would he ever find his way to North America?

In May of that year, Paigin was moved back to the club that drafted him, Ak-Bars. HC Sochi’s press release translated said they had tried to keep him, but it was not possible under their current circumstances. It was a weird situation, and it didn’t make much sense as Kazan was still loaded on the blue line.

He didn’t last long with Ak-Bars, playing in only 17 games and scoring 4 points (1G, 3A) before adding another 17 games down in the VHL. There he amassed seven points (5G, 2A) before leaving the club for the second time in his young career.

Crossing the pond

Not satisfied with Ak-Bars, Paigin fled to North America to give it a go with the club that drafted his NHL rights. He signed a professional tryout contract to finish the 2016-2017 season on the farm in Bakersfield. There, he got into four games without registering a point and was -2. After his first game, he gave an interview with reporter Alexei Shevchenko Russian where he stated how his time came to an end in the KHL.

During this past summer, Paigin came to Edmonton and stayed on campus residence at MacEwan. He was walking distance from the Oilers training facilities at Rogers Place and he spent the summer months working on his game in Edmonton. In an interview with Jim Matheson, he said that he would go to the AHL, “If the coaches say go to Bakersfield, I’ll go there. it’s a good league.”

A familiar situation

Funny how things change over a summer. Yohann Auvitu, Keegan Lowe, Caleb Jones, Ryan Stanton, Jamie Doornbosch, and Ethan Bear all joined the Oilers organization, creating yet another logjam on the blueline for Paigin. All of those players except for Auvitu are playing in Bakersfield right now and they’re joined by fellow d-men Ryan Mantha, Mark Fayne, Dillon Simpson, and Ben Betker.

The Big Z got into seven games this season where he was held pointless with 4PIM and a -2 on the season. It was an underwhelming start to the season for a guy that’s ranked so high on the Oilers prospect charts but not exactly surprising given the change in environment and style of play. Then came the news on Tuesday morning that Paigin was leaving the team.

It’s disappointing that the towering defenceman didn’t work out for the Oilers, but it will be more interesting to see where he ends up. He certainly didn’t leave Ak-Bars on the greatest of terms and he seemed set on making it work over in North America. At least the Oilers only gave up a seventh-round pick to get him, unlike Yakimov who was selected much higher in the third round, but he was still a prospect of note.

What comes next? I’m fairly certain we’ll find out more details soon as Paigin seems likely to talk about his time in the organization — he seems to be a chatty guy.