Three NHL players suddenly leave their teams for good including a Pittsburgh Penguin

Givani Smith signed with the Shanghai Dragons after going unclaimed on waivers and spending most of last season buried in the AHL with Chicago.

He was a tryout success story who never got enough healthy games to force a real look from Rod Brind'Amour's staff.

That part checks out. Smith is a genuine Hurricanes departure, and a fair anchor for a story about Carolina's depth.

Alex Alexeyev is heading to Salavat Yulaev on a two-year deal, and he is leaving Pittsburgh. The Penguins issued him a qualifying offer just days before he chose Russia instead.

Ivan Fedotov is signing with Spartak Moscow, and his most recent NHL employer was the Columbus Blue Jackets, who acquired him from Philadelphia last September.

Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh and Columbus's front office are the ones losing roster depth here, not Eric Tulsky's group in Raleigh.

Smith's exit is a real data point on fringe forwards choosing certainty overseas.

Alexeyev and Fedotov are a separate trend playing out in two other organizations at the same time.

All three players share one thing: none of them had a guaranteed path to NHL minutes next season.

Smith was fighting for a bottom-six job, Alexeyev was buried behind a crowded Pittsburgh blue line, and Fedotov was a third goalie option in Columbus.

A two-year, guaranteed KHL contract beats another training camp tryout for a player stuck on the fringe.

That calculus is becoming more common leaguewide, not just in one organization.

The bigger story here is the KHL's growing pull on replacement-level NHL talent, not a single team's depth chart.

Three separate front offices just learned that lesson in the same week.

Also read on House Of Hockey :
Darnell Nurse blasts the Oilers and their fans after his trade to Sharks