Ruslan Salei's tragic death has been confirmed by the Belarus Hockey Federation as well as Belarusian news agencies. A plane carrying the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to their season opener crash on Wednesday. Of the 45 people on board, only two were reported as having survived the crash. At first there were conflicting reports as to whether Salei, who was committed to playing with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl this season, was on the plane, but unfortunately he was one of the passengers. We would like to extend our condolences to his family and friends.

Ruslan Salei has signed a one year deal with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL. No financial terms were announced. Salei played with the Red Wings last season but did not get any interest from another NHL team when he became a free agent on July 1. His new head coach in Russia is Brad McCrimmon who was an assistant coach with the Red Wings the last three seasons. Look for Salei to play the year out in Russia and try to return to the NHL the following season.

Ruslan Salei will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, but he might still end up signing with Detroit. The Red Wings don't plan to offer him a contract before July, but they haven't completely ruled out the possibility of reaching out to him later if the circumstances are right. Detroit's defensive situation is significantly better now that they've re-signed Nicklas Lidstrom, but they still need to fill the big void left by the retirement of blueliner Brian Rafalski.