Still no NHL transfer deal with Russia?

[nivek_wahs]

From tsn.ca

Still no NHL transfer deal with Russia?

Canadian Press
7/17/2006 2:58:09 PM

Maybe star centre Evgeni Malkin won't play in the NHL next season after all, because Russia has yet to officially join the NHL-IIHF transfer agreement.

What looked like a done deal weeks ago is now stalling and it's not clear whether Russia will officially sign the document.

"Right now, it's issues that exist between the IIHF and the Russian Federation," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Monday from New York. "My understanding is that they are trying to schedule an in-person meeting in the near future. Our position is that while we think the transfer agreement is important and beneficial to the sport, if it doesn't get done the players are going to come here anyway."

What makes it more complicated is that NHL clubs are currently left on their own to negotiate with Russian players to get them out. All other European players follow an automatic protocol that's part of the agreement.

Russian League club owners are the ones who continue to resist signing. New Russian hockey federation head Vladislav Tretiak, it appeared, had smoothed things over in early June with them. Both Tretiak and the NHL were somewhat confident at the time that an official announcement would soon happen.

But the Russian clubs continued to dither and the deal still isn't done.

"The IIHF and (IIHF president) Rene Fasel is doing everything to bring the Russians on board, but there is no deal just yet," IIHF spokesman Szymon Szemberg said Monday in an email from Switzerland.

Malkin, who turns 20 on July 31, was the second overall choice in the 2005 NHL entry draft by Pittsburgh. He was considered the top player in the world outside the NHL last season, playing with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Russian Super League.

The Penguins are eagerly awaiting his arrival for next season, giving them an enviable 1-2 punch at centre with Sidney Crosby.

The NHL returned from the lockout last August armed with a new player transfer agreement with the IIHF including Sweden, Finland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Russian League clubs refused to sign the agreement, wanting instead to negotiate individual agreements with players they lost to the NHL.

The banner case last season that underlined the difficulty in not having Russia part of the agreement was forward Alexander Semin, whom the Washington Capitals finally got under wraps for next season after a costly court battle that finally required the NHL, IIHF and NHL Players' Association getting involved in a complicated negotiation.

Getting the Russians into the deal would mean all Russian players drafted by NHL clubs would follow the same process as other European prospects, with their federations getting compensation in exchange losing players to the NHL.

[LifelongChiefsFan]

That's really not that suprising...I'm sure they lose alot of money by not having Ovechkin and Malkin among others playing in the Russian leagues.

[SectionNDeserter]

Still, no transfer deal means that teams are likely not going to waste their draft picks on Russian players until a deal is in place.

[grainbear]

I think it is time for the International Ice Hockey Federation to play a little hard ball with Russia. Lets basically deny them access to all championship and tournaments untill they get the message. Yes , they should get development $ just like the other federations and junior clubs. But the bottom line is still that the owners still need to make a return on their investments at all levels and greed by foreign owners is not any different from greed at the player and NHL owners level. It will kill the game.