Wasn't Ruff the reason Nichushkin left/refused to play for Dallas? Wasn't Nichushkin also expecting to be handed top 6 ice time or something along those lines?
That aside, Malamud said Afinogenov and Kalinin despised him. Yet they stayed on the team for 10 and 8 years respectively, and they were 2 of the like 6 or 7 Russians Ruff coached on the Sabres and the only 2 from Buffalo that had anything bad to say about him (apparently). I'd take this "Russian killer" stuff with a grain of salt.
There's a former AGM that was burnt by the Russian factor and avoided taking Russian players and his old org avoided taking Russians in the draft due to those talented players not coming to NA... when he joined his new org as a GM they took a few talented kids but he traded a few of them away fearing the KHL contract issues.
It wasn't a matter of culture as much as not having leverage, both of these teams were small market teams that didn't have the bank roll to be able to compete with a SKA St. Petersburg.
You can't blame the player for wanting more money and getting it, and you can't blame the GM for taking preventative measures in order to not lose the asset.
Sometimes it's also the agent GM relationship... people would be surprised how often this plays a role. Larionov is chills with Stevie Y from their DET days.. you don't see the Russian factor being a problem with Tampa.
Lou Lams was great to the guys that wanted to cross over from the Soviet days, and you see there are no issues for TOR when it comes to taking kids from there with their picks.
Other teams will have such considerations, it's a matter of opportunity, both in terms or money and NHL playing time.
Unlike other leagues, the KHL can pay more than the NHL for certain guys. Well certain KHL teams. That's what makes it a player by player situation.