Sobotka facing decision between another KHL season or a return to the Blues

Will he stay or will he go?

That's the question surrounding Vladimir Sobotka these days, as the 27-year-old center faces a decision about where he'll play next season.

Sobotka, who signed a three-year deal with the KHL's Avangard Omsk last summer, has an out clause that allows him to return to the St. Louis Blues. Should he choose to go that route, however, he would be forced to accept a one-year deal that would pay him $2.7 million, foregoing a tax-free KHL salary of close to $4.5 million.

"I had a good talk with his agent," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "The agent told me that the money he made last year, they guaranteed him for next year. He’s got two weeks to decide what he’s going to do. I said 'We’d love to have him back.' I understand if the economics are so great in the KHL and he has to stay. I respect that. Then we’ll talk again a year from now."

Sobotka has until the end of May to exercise his out clause, at which point he'll be locked in for another season with Omsk. Should he choose to play out the one-year NHL deal - as determined by an independent arbitrator - he would become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

In 53 games in the KHL, Sobotka scored 10 goals and added 28 assists. He also recorded four goals in 10 games for the Czech Republic at the World Championship.