The fact that troubled winger Chris Simon and backup netminder John Grahame won't be returning to the NHL next season likely comes as little surprise, but what's interesting is that the pair have signed with teams in the newly branded Continental Hockey League (formerly the Russian Super League) this weekend. Simon, who finished 2007-08 with the Wild, has reportedly inked up with struggling Vityaz Chekhov, a team guided by GM Alexei Zhamnov (who played one season with Simon in the NHL with Chicago in 2002-03). Grahame, meanwhile, will backstop Omsk Avangard, a powerhouse known for pulling talent out of the NHL. Former NHLers Artem Chubarov, Anton Babchuk and Alex Svitov played there in 2007-08. Both Simon and Grahame had terrible seasons this year in the NHL. Simon, 36, was suspended twice in nine months, 25 games in March, 2007, for whacking Ryan Hollweg in the face, and for 30 games after stomping on Jarkko Ruutu's leg in December. He had one goal and three points in 38 games and limited minutes with the Islanders and Wild in 2007-08. Grahame, meanwhile, really struggled in the backup role with the Hurricanes, finishing with a 3.75 goals against average and .875 save percentage. Set to turn 33 this August, he spent some time in the AHL with Albany. I imagine both had considerable paydays from the Russian teams. The Grahame signing is particularly interesting in that there has been considerable talk about phasing out import goaltenders in Russia, but he's apparently received a two-year contract.