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defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin will be loaned to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL.
Ilya Lyubushkin went undrafted and signed with the Arizona Coyotes as a free agent before the 2018-19 season. He signed an extension earlier this month and is currently signed to a one year deal at $1 million.
Lyubushkin played with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl before signing with the Arizona Coyotes. With an uncertain timeline, it makes sense that he would want to get some games in with a familiar team.
The Coyotes have a lot of offensive defensemen, and ideally, the team should be getting offense from their blue line. With Lyubushkin, the Coyotes have a defensive-defenseman. He has played in 92 NHL games and he has scored zero goals and has only eight assists.
Unlike other loans we’ve seen so far, Lyubushkin is not a prospect. But Lyubushkin has served as the team’s seventh defenseman, so it makes sense that he would want to work on his game and get in all the practice he can.