Cedric Paquette praises KHL; 'It's definitely better than the AHL'

After parts of seven seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, including having his named etched on the Stanley Cup in 2020, thing didn't go so well for Cedric Paquette after he left. A victim of the cap crunch in Tampa, Paquette was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2020. He then went to Carolina and then Montreal, where he found himself riding the bus in the AHL with the Laval Rocket. At the beginning of this season, Paquette signed on with Dynamo Minsk of the KHL, and he couldn't be happier with his decision.

"The KHL is a very fast league, similar to the NHL," said Paquette. "It's definitely better than the AHL. It takes some getting used to, but I like everything. I'm glad that there are North Americans in Dynamo Minsk, because it helps with adaptation. We have a good mix of foreigners and local guys on the team."

Paquette told reporters in Russia he received no interesting offers from NHL teams during the summer, and didn't want to wait until training camps started to sign a professional try out.

"Moving to Minsk was a great decision, which has been fully justified," said Paquette. "The NHL is getting younger, the AHL has a cap on veterans, so I started to consider other options. I'm very happy with the fact that I'm playing in the KHL."

As for playing against guys he knows from his NHL days, Paquette singled out Alexander Radulov, who returned to the KHL over the summer.

"Radulov and I know each other a little bit, and it's fun to play against him. He's a great player, it's always interesting to play against that kind of guy. I remember going to his games when he played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and scored a lot of goals in the Memorial Cup."

Source: Sport24.ru

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