Does lack of transfer agreement...

shveik

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Jul 6, 2002
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... makes russian prospects more attractive? The popular school of thought is that it would scare teams off. Well, I am not sure about this, but did not NHL give the teams signing extension for russian prospects due to the lack of agreement? In that case, would not it make signing a project from Russia be as good to the teams as signing a college bound player?

That said, the teams would not want to draft many russians, but for different reason that the transfer agreement. I think it's because of the big contracts talented players get in RSL, making it harder to make a prospect come over.
 

montreal

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shveik said:
... makes russian prospects more attractive? The popular school of thought is that it would scare teams off. Well, I am not sure about this, but did not NHL give the teams signing extension for russian prospects due to the lack of agreement? In that case, would not it make signing a project from Russia be as good to the teams as signing a college bound player?

That said, the teams would not want to draft many russians, but for different reason that the transfer agreement. I think it's because of the big contracts talented players get in RSL, making it harder to make a prospect come over.


Well there could be a decision tomorrow on the Russian side to see if they will sign the PTA or wait till it expires in 2-3 years.

But Russia is unlike drafting out of the NCAA cause the RSL is a pro league that money wise could be the biggest competition for the NHL. Since our rookie cap is lower, some Russians might make more money staying at home when you factor in other perks like no taxes, car, house, etc...

I'm not saying teams will stay away from Russia, but even if the PTA gets signed, there's an added risk imo. From what I understand the economy in Russia has really improved due to oil and some of the teams seem able to afford bigger contracts. Was it Grigorenko that got offered 2M or am I mixing him up? Then again you have Dynamo who could get kicked out of the RSL if they don't solve their financial problems, which would join them with two other teams just removed from the RSL for I beleive the same reason.

Someone from Russia hopefully can add more or correct any mistakes.
 

Slitty

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Sometimes I am a little suprised which players NHL teams draft, and which players are not drafted. A prime example that exposes weaknesses in the NHL scouting system when it comes to Russia is Nikolai Kulemin: he has made excellent strides recently, but that potential and ability was always there. Then when some late draft pick does pan out, NHL teams refuse to sign them, and fans justify this by saying that such players are unproven. If you're not going to sign an "unproven" player who has shown he is amongst the best players in the 2nd best league in the world, why bother drafting this player at all? In the meantime, some of the early rounders, such as Yakubov, are brought over when anyone who follows Russian hockey could have told Chicago and subsequently Florida that the guy is still an AHL - level player.

It is just my general belief that sometimes the scouting and more so the signing of Russian prospects is handled poorly. The catch phrase "he doesn't seem to want to come to North America" has emerged. Sure the player won't pack up his bags and come play in the ECHL comepletely on his own and uninvited when he already has a job in the 2nd best league in the world. However, given an appropriate contract, any prospect can be signed... I think anyone who makes more in the RSL than NHL teams are willing to offer them ARE worth the money. Why would RSL teams be paying those players MORE than they could get in the NHL if they are bad and not NHL worthy? The RSL's average salary is, after all, substantially less.

Perhaps NHL teams should draft less Russians and stick to only getting players like Ovechkin. I mean late rounders like Atyushov, Zinovjev, ect have proven themseleves season after season by being amongst the best in the RSL... yet their NHL teams refuse to and sign them. The next wave of late - round drafted talent most likely won't get signed either. We might not see Kulyash in Nashville, Koshechkin in Tampa Bay, or Kaigorodov in Ottawa. Yet the worse Sishkanovs, Grebeshkovs, and Artyukhins are all getting at least some NHL time and their respective shots. Hell, some guys arguably better than all the above, for example Zaripov, dont even get drafted. My advice to NHL teams is to simply dont draft Russian players unless you know you're getting an Ovechkin or Kovalchuk.

That being said, Grigorenko makes 1 million. Also, it is widely circulated that Russian prospects gets an extension to be signed over other Eurps... yet can anyone say which draft year's rights in terms of Russian players do NHL teams still have?
 

shveik

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Obviously this discussion is not moot, since the Russian hockey federation is about to sign the transfer agreement. It doesn't change the fact that russian teams are willing to pay competetive salaries, which could drive some teams away. As for Slitty's comments that NHL's evaluation of russian prospects is not very good, I would just like to point out that it is to be expected. As in any business, politics plays a role, not only merit. It is particularly true when the prospects are far from the main "headquarters", but it's not like this sort of stuf doesn't happen in North America. Markus Naslund, Matrin StLouis, Steve Sullivan, Jason Smith, Mike Johnson, Dustin Penner... the list of good players that were not evaluated properly goes on and on... All I can say is that one good thing about the new CBA is the 2 year prospect signing deadline for all prospects. So if a team is doing a crappy scouting job, it only hurts itself, and good prospects will not end up buried forever. And teams with good scouts will be rewarded.
 

Human Megaphone

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Nov 24, 2003
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This is going to seem like bashing to some, but it is not meant that way:

I think some of the Russian prospects are given a rougher time because of the political clime. I have never heard of Czech or Swedish mafia's being involved in players careers, whereas the Russian mafia has certainly, though uprovable, been a rumour in several NHL careers. Markov would be an excellent example of this.

Ottawa has obviously drafted a tons of Russians during the last few years, but I think the political climate plays a much bigger role with Russians than it does with the average Euro prospect.
 

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