The Puck Stops Here

The NHL is without a transfer agreement to govern players who jump between the various international hockey leagues. Russia opted out of the IIHF transfer agreement in 2005 and the rest of Europe joined them this season.

The concerned parties met in Zurich, Switzerland yesterday and came to a partial agreement. The various leagues agreed to honor each other's contracts, with penalty of non-participation in the Olympics if this is violated (though this is likely an empty threat). A further meeting is scheduled for September when it is hoped a full transfer agreement can be hammered out where the amount of financial compensation owed to a league when a player from that league jumps to a new league can be negotiated. The main issue is that European leagues feel the $200,000 US payment they currently receive is not sufficient.

This is substantial progress. There have been a few cases of Russian players under contract in the NHL jumping to Russia (such as Roman Voloshenko and Canadian Fred Brathwaite), There have even been isolated cases of Russian players jumping to the NHL (such as Alexei Semenov). This agreement would help reduce this instability.

However, approximately the same time this agreement was announced, it was also announced that Alexander Radulov has signed with Saavat Yulaev of the KHL. Radulov is about to enter the third and final year of an entry level contract with the Nashville Predators. According to the agreement reached, his signing should not be allowed. It is quite likely that his contract was negotiated by Saavat Yulaev without their knowledge of the agreement to respect contracts, so the Russia ice hockey federation was likely not bargaining in bad faith.

Radulov will make significantly more money playing in the KHL than he would on an entry level deal in the NHL. This is one problem of the NHL's entry level deals. It might keep some players from joining the league if they can get higher paying contracts in other leagues.

The loss of Radulov is a blow to the Nashville Predators. He was their third highest scorer last season, with 58 points and expected to increase those totals in the future.

We will immediately see a test of the international agreement. Will the KHL honor Radulov's NHL and send him back to the NHL? Would Nashville want him, if he clearly does not want to be there? Is yesterday's agreement already dead? Will the threat of no Olympic participation actually be followed through with?

The war over players between the NHL and the KHL is underway. It is going to get ugly. Right now the NHL controls most of the best players in the world, but the KHL is slowly trying to chip away at that. Alexander Radulov is one of the first chips.