Flyers' top pick leaving Russia early?

German Rubtsov, whom the Flyers drafted in the first round in June , attended Saturday afternoon's game at the Wells Fargo Center and could be close to terminating his contract with the KHL.

Rubtsov intends to finish the season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, the team that holds his rights. According to RDS, the French Canadian sports network, the only thing left for Rubtsov to do to join his new team is for the transfer to be formalized. The 18-year-old center's contract with KHL club HC Vityaz in Russia was originally scheduled to end after next season.

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said he did not know whether Rubtsov's deal was being terminated. The Flyers cannot sign Rubtsov to an entry-level contract while he is still under contract with the KHL. Rubtsov, Hextall said, was in Philadelphia to be evaluated by the team's doctors after the 18-year-old was hit in the nose with a stick during last week's World Junior Championship.

"It has nothing to do with the Philadelphia Flyers," Hextall said about Rubtsov's contract. "This is Chicoutimi and German, his agent, and Russia. We're really just a bystander here."

Playing in Canada would afford Rubtsov the chance to get acclimated to the smaller rinks of North America and he should be able to attend the Flyers' prospect camp in the summer, which he missed out on after being drafted. Rubtsov won a bronze medal with Russia last week in Canada at the world juniors.

"We would have no issue if he comes to North America and plays in Chicoutimi. That's a good situation," Hextall said. "If that happens, great. If not, as I said at the draft, we were fully expecting that he'll spend two years in Russia and that's the way we approached it. Either way, if he ends up in Chicoutimi, for us, we could see him more, get our hands on him a little bit more."