Former first-rounder among several ex-NHLers to have contracts terminated

An odd situation has taken place overseas in the KHL recently as seven former National Hockey League players had their contracts terminated by Barys Astana, also known as Nur-Sultan Barys, a team based in Kazahkstan.

The news was first reported by Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey in a post on X. Among those to have their contract terminated by Barys Astana was former Montreal Canadiens first-rounder Nathan Beaulieu, Wade Allison and 2022 Olympian Alex Grant.

It's been a rough season to say the least both on and off the ice for Barys Astana. So far in 2024-25, they've have fired two head coaches and one General Manager. The team sits dead-last in the entire KHL coming into Friday with three wins and 13 losses in 16 games.

There's no doubt that some of these players will have options to continue playing this season, whether that be in Europe or in North America. Nathan Beaulieu, Wade Allison and Will Butcher are the main three who should have no issues trying to find a new home in the near future. All three would bring plenty of experience to their new club and would certainly play big roles in helping secure a championship.

For Beaulieu and Allison especially, if they remain in Europe, they could be options to represent Canada at the 2024 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland in late December. Both would be strong additions to Canada's roster, which will likely be released at some point in mid-December.

We'll have to wait and see what the future hold for some of these players, but it's never easy to have your contract terminated, especially after flying halfway across the world to keep your professional hockey career alive.