KHL team Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg has strengthened its ranks with ex-Tampa Bay Lightning forward Dmitry Afanasenkov, the Russians announced on their website Monday.
The team is trying to turn the page after a torrid season in which it had the worst record in the Eastern Conference, winning only 16 of 54 matches.
Afanasenkov, who spent five seasons with Tampa and won the Stanley Cup at the end of his stint there in 2004, is the second acquisition of the summer for Avtomobilist after American goaltender Chris Holt joined last month.
Afanasenkov, 32, also had one season for the Philadelphia Flyers, racking up a total 255 NHL appearances and 58 points.
He left North America in 2007 to play for Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Traktor Chelyabinsk and Swiss team Fribourg-Gotteron.
Avtomobilist, founded in 2006, reached the KHL playoffs in 2010, its best showing to date.
