Evgeny Artyukhin

Playing career

Evgeny Artyukhin spent most of the 2005-06 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning before heading back to Russia after talks on a new contract fell apart. Following the 2006-07 campaign with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, he said no to a $475,000 offer from the Lightning. His agent, Mark Gandler, asked Tampa Bay to trade him, arguing the team was punishing Artyukhin for not re-signing the year before. Reports at the time suggested he was looking for a $1 million deal. In 2007-08, he suited up for CSKA Moscow, putting up 9 points and 99 penalty minutes in 23 games. On July 7, 2008, the Lightning gave him a two-year contract worth $1.9 million.

A little over a year later, on August 13, 2009, the Lightning sent him to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Drew Miller and a third-round draft pick. On October 21, 2009, he got a three-game suspension for a slewfoot on Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen. The referees hadn't called a penalty during the game, but the NHL handed down the suspension after reviewing the footage. Artyukhin later apologized publicly, saying it wasn't intentional. He was invited to the 2010 Winter Olympics summer camp for the Russian national team but didn't make the final cut. On March 1, 2010, he was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for Nathan Oystrick and a conditional pick. On April 24, 2011, he got a 5-plus-20-minute penalty for his role in a brawl during the Euro Hockey Tour.

For the 2016-17 season, he signed a one-year deal on June 29, 2016, to captain Sibir Novosibirsk. He played a career-high 54 KHL games that year, scoring five goals and adding four assists for nine points. When that contract ended, he inked another one-year deal with Dynamo Moscow on August 28, 2017. As a free agent, he decided to sit out the entire 2018-19 season. On May 17, 2019, he got back into the game by signing a one-year contract with his original club, HC Vityaz. Heading into the 2021-22 season as a free agent, he was brought in on a one-year deal by struggling Admiral Vladivostok on September 28, 2021. He went scoreless in 22 games there before being traded to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk on December 21, 2021.