"Strange enough, he's gone back to the KHL, but he's left his family in Prague and he's still working on trying to get out of his deal (with Avangard Omsk)," Armstrong told Louie Korac of NHL.com.
Sobotka, 29, has spent the past two seasons in the KHL. The Czech forward has one year remaining on his Russian deal, and would like to return to the NHL, but needs to get out of his contract. He last appeared in the NHL in 2014 with the Blues.
"I don't want to say he's not happy playing there, but I know he wants to play in the NHL," Armstrong added. "He had a tough ending to the season last year with an injury that got him to look at things a little bit differently."
Following the 2013-14 campaign, Sobotka, then a restricted free agent, left for the KHL. An arbitrator later ruled that he owed the Blues a year of service if he returned to the NHL, after which he could become an unrestricted free agent.
Drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2005, Sobotka has played 381 NHL games and scored 123 points.
On the Fly, theScore's roundtable series, is shifting its focus from the now-ended World Cup to the coming NHL season. Here are four lines we're looking forward to watching come Oct. 12.
Laine-Little-Stafford
Vaswani: Patrik Laine's ready for showtime, and the Winnipeg Jets are going to give the people what they want.
The No. 2 pick is slated to start on the second line centered by Bryan Little, with Drew Stafford at right wing. Little, much like teammate Blake Wheeler, is one of the NHL's more underrated forwards. He's totaled 45 points or more in four of the past six full seasons, and would've hit the mark last season if healthy (he finished with a respectable 42 points in 57 games).
I have no doubt Laine and Little will have success. The line will feature an abundance of speed, and Stafford shouldn't have trouble hitting the 20-goal mark again.
There's also the possibility of Laine jumping up to the first unit if he impresses and Nikolaj Ehlers struggles. Laine, Mark Scheifele, and Wheeler - that'd be something.
Lucic-McDavid-Eberle
Cuthbert: Just a few days after dealing one of the NHL's most efficient left wingers, the Edmonton Oilers devoted $42 million to Milan Lucic, signing him to fill the void on the depth chart left by Taylor Hall. So on Tuesday, the first time skating on a line, apparent disconnect between Lucic and linemates Connor McDavid and Jordan Eberle caught the attention of fans, and of course the media.
Except McDavid's impression was very much the opposite. The Oilers soon-to-be captain, whose opinion, mind you, is really the only one that matters, mentioned afterwards he thinks Lucic is "almost a perfect winger" to complement his game, as the bruiser possesses the size, strength, and offensive instincts to create space and force defenses into mistakes.
McDavid's already the most exciting, most dynamic player this league has to offer; who doesn't want to him operate in more space, and more often?
D. Sedin-H. Sedin-Eriksson
Hagerman: Vancouver Canucks fans were lucky enough to get a sneak peak at their future top line at the World Cup.
The trio of Daniel and Henrik Sedin with Loui Eriksson largely played as Team Sweden's top trio, and boy did they look good.
The three went off for a combined six points in four games during the tournament, along with another eight points in three pre-tournament contests. The triumvirate have an average age of over 34 years old, but you'd never know it based on how they played for Sweden.
Immediately, the three appear in sync - of course the Sedins always have and always will be - as Eriksson has seemed to fit seamlessly with the twins' high-tempo, passing-play style.
Unlike Radim Vrbata - whose experiment with the Sedins thrived during the 2014-15 season, but failed last year - Eriksson is a much more well rounded player able to also help out in the corners, perfect for the Sedins.
The Canucks will have a lot going against them this season, but their No. 1 line should be no worry.
Vesey and Zibanejad are both new faces to New York, with Vesey joining as an unsigned college recruit, while Zibanejad brings his talents from the Ottawa Senators. The 2016 Hobey Baker winner, Vesey was pursued by many teams after tallying 46 points in 33 games with Harvard.
Acquired for veteran center Derick Brassard, Zibanejad brings young legs and up-and-coming skill to Manhattan. The 23-year-old playmaker is showing signs of a breakout - he scored a career-best 51 points in 81 games last season - and he'll have a chance to build on that partnered with two shooters.
A new season offers a clean slate for Nash, who plummeted to 15 goals last year after finishing with 42 in the previous campaign. Still, he was limited to 60 games in 2015-16, and a full season surrounded by fresh linemates could be just the trick to help the former Rocket Richard winner find the back of the net more often.
theScore is previewing each team leading up to the 2016-17 season.
A 20-point regression in the standings forced the Calgary Flames to make some serious moves this offseason.
The club brought in a new head coach, completely revamped its goaltending tandem, and added a veteran two-way presence up front.
The Flames still hold a large portion of the roster that saw them reach the second round of the playoffs in 2015 and their new acquisitions should only help them get back to the postseason.
Here are three questions facing the club this season:
Can Elliott, Johnson provide stable goaltending?
Goaltending was the Flames' biggest crutch last season, there's no way around it.
The team had a league-worst 3.13 goals-against per game, even though they allowed only the 20th most shots.
Their goalies surely didn't stack up to the rest of the 46 goaltenders who played at least 25 games last season.
G
GAA (Rank)
SV% (Rank)
Karri Ramo
2.63 (31)
.909 (36)
Jonas Hiller
3.51 (48)
.879 (48)
Luckily, with Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson now at the helm, the club should be in much better stead.
What can the Flames expect from Brouwer?
Next to Elliott, the Flames' biggest acquisition of the summer was that of Troy Brouwer.
The club inked the 31-year-old to a four-year, $18-million contract after he posted a productive 18-goal, 39-point season, while adding another eight goals and 13 points in the postseason.
Brouwer provides both offense and grit as his 52 blocks and 200 hits prove. However, there is certainly a reason to be cautious regarding expectations.
Offensively, Brouwer has seen a drop in both his goals per game and points per game over the last three seasons, and since the 2012-13 season he has a Corsi-for rating of just 49.07.
Brouwer certainly makes the club better, but Flames fans shouldn't be surprised if his production once again continues to slide.
Was Gulutzan the best choice for coach?
After dismissing Bob Hartley of his head coaching duties, the Flames took a long, hard, and delayed look at all their potential candidates before coming to a decision on Glen Gulutzan.
While Gulutzan has lots of experience, including, but not limited to, serving as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks the past three seasons and as head coach of the Dallas Stars during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the Flames passed over on some big candidates.
During the time of Hartley's firing, Bruce Boudreau was without a job after being dismissed by the Anaheim Ducks, Guy Boucher had not yet signed with the Ottawa Senators, and Mike Yeo was also still kicking around.
Each of the men above have more experience as head coaches in the NHL. This is not to knock Gulutzan, only to serve as a precaution as the team is set to embark on a new chapter sans a coach with a deep NHL resume.
