Eh read up on the history of the EuroLeague. It has nothing in common with the KHL. The CHL is the only tournament that could possibly evolve into hockey's equivalent of the EuroLeague.
Man, you are wrong.
As said, the key principle of the Euroleague is a long-term licence rule. We can see the same in the KHL, but it is not a case in the CHL anymore. The long-term licence rule is very important because you can maintain strict conditions (arena capacity, finance) from those clubs.
The Euroleague is a closed league now, having top-notch teams from top basketball countries or countries with good marketing potential. The KHL is closed league as well and has the potential to add clubs from top hockey countries or countries with good marketing potential. Finland is already an important part of the KHL.
Yes, there is a difference in playing format, the Euroleague is a parallel championship to clubs, the KHL is their main and only competition.
Let´s look at the CHL. As I said, the CHL was created as a copy of the Euroleague, a long-term licence rule was the key rule in the CHL early days. Now, this has changed and the CHL is based on qualification based on sporting merit. The same can be seen in the Basketball Champion League as opposed to the Euroleague (or the KHL).
Of course, the CHL can come back to a long-term licence rule, but it would be comical. They had it a few years, then abandoned it and coming back a few years later?
As you can see, the CHL is going to countries where hockey is not developed enough. Perhaps there is marketing potential in France, the UK, but you need to heavily invest money to get any results. That has not been happening with the CHL.
I have said it many times and I can repeat it again. The biggest problem of the CHL is that a league is opposed by fans and participating clubs. The clubs from top countries. Therefore it would be better to go the Euroleague´s route and pick a few teams per country on a long-term licence. But, that model is not welcomed especially in Sweden. Who knows? If Swedes are eliminated from the CHL´s decision making bodies, the "hockey Euroleague" may happen. But not now, sorry.