As first mentioned in my earlier report on the subject, Taylor Aronson had left the Milwaukee Admirals at the end of the regular season and never came back with a mention of receiving an offer from a team in Russia. Thankfully for that Aronson that team didn’t pullout of their commitment to him because now a deal is official. Aronson has just signed a one-year contract with HC Lada of Russia’s KHL. Although, the team hilariously is using a photograph of Taylor Beck in their press release announcing the signing. Perhaps that will cause another departure later down the road?

The word I keep coming back to in relation to this topic is avoidable. This was all insanely avoidable. Aronson opted to re-sign with the Nashville Predators last off-season. If he was already harboring resentment towards the organization for behind the scenes politics, while knowing how thick the glass ceiling is to break into that Predators defensive core, why not opt or request free agency then and there? Further more, as things continued to build and brew with the roster additions coming in as they did I’m sure a trade request could have even manifested itself and probably been able to be performed either by an actual trade or a Kevin Henderson-style AHL loan swap the likes of which happened 2013-14 and saw the Admirals get Francis Wathier in return on loan. Henderson wasn’t liking his position in the organization. It was rubbing some the wrong way. Problem solved – and it ended up working a treat for him as he won that year’s Calder Cup as a member of the Texas Stars.

The final area that could have been tapped into, that would have made this all avoidable, comes in the form of shutting up and playing out the contract. This was a career year for Aronson. He could have put a playoff stamp down on the end of it to have made signing him as a free agent all that more attractive. Not to mention, who is to say him doing that wouldn’t have made him being the bottom-six defensive option in Nashville next season? Rather than do any of that. Rather than play out the contract, be a professional, be a teammate, and seek job opportunities at the end of the season. Aronson deserted his organization, his coaches that were loyal to seeing him develop into an NHL name, his teammates that he played and fought alongside, and a team that had just clinched a division title and was three-games away from starting the playoffs. I can’t fathom the support group that Aronson has around him for that idea to have not been shot down on first mention much less his own personal psychology to think leaving a team at that point in a season was good for his image and career. No one in this game wants a “me” before “we” player. Aronson is going to have that label printed on his forehead for the rest of his career and its a label he created and tattooed Mike Tyson style to his face. It’s all anyone should ever see. Which brings me to the second word I keep coming back to in this story: unfortunate. Because this should never have happened at all.

Thoughts on the Taylor Aronson subject? Do you feel like he ever has a chance to return and play hockey in North America? This KHL team offered him a one-year contract. How do you feel that Aronson abandoned the Milwaukee Admirals the day of clinching a division for a one-year KHL contract?

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