The Puck Stops Here
Next entry: How David Moss Got Such A Good Corsi
Previous entry: Corsi Numbers Top 20
NHL And KHL Fight Over Players
by PuckStopsHere on 07/11/09 at 01:54 AM ET
Comments (3)
Ever since there stopped being a valid player transfer agreement between the NHL and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, both sides have been fighting over players. The first major battle was over Alexander Semin who played in Russia during the lockout year and the year after it despite a valid NHL contract. That was sorted out and he came to the NHL. Though he has become an NHL star since then, he was not one at the point of the fight over his rights. The Russians attempted to fight the transfer of several players to the NHL including Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, but the NHL was able to get any player they wanted and Russia was only successful in getting some NHL rejects (such as prospects Roman Voloshenko and Igor Grigorenko). The NHL had been able to get their way in any important case until Alexander Radulov left Nashville for the KHL.
The war over player rights threatened to become bigger and more open at that point. The IIHF stepped in to try to settle things. Both sides agreed to honor each other’s contracts and only sign free agents from the other league.
That thaw in relations lasted until the Atlanta Thrashers signed Joel Kwiatkoski. Kwiatkowski is an NHL veteran who has made little impact in his seven years if NHL (and AHL) play. Last season he signed with Cherepovets Severstal in the KHL. He signed a two year contract with SKA St Petersburg to stay in Russia before learning there was NHL interest in him. He then signed with the Atlanta Thrashers, where he was expected to be an extra defenceman. The Russian Ice Hockey Federation immediately jumped on this as though it was a major attack. The NHL is bowing to their pressure and not allowing Kwiatkowski to come back to North America. That isn’t much of a concession because he is essentially a replacement level defenceman, but it prevents the KHL from actively trying to sign NHL players who are under contract.
The NHL has responded with a gambit of its own. Jiri Hudler signed a two year contract with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL. The NHL claims that when he declared salary arbitration with the Detroit Red Wings he was contractually obligated to stay in the NHL. It isn’t so clear that is true. Technically Hudler is a restricted free agent until he signs a contract or his salary arbitration case is resolved. It isn’t clear that he would have a contract even after salary arbitration as a team can “walk away” from the arbitration award and let him become an unrestricted free agent. Given Detroit’s salary cap situation, that is a relatively likely scenario. I don’t think that the NHL can win this battle but clearly Hudler would make more of an NHL impact than Kwiatkowski.
I would be surprised if this is the end of player battles between the NHL and KHL this summer. I think the battleground is beginning to heat up and we will have more disagreements before the summer is through. The KHL is slowly gathering a better talent pool. They cannot directly compete with the NHL, but they have drawn away players I would have liked to see stay in the NHL and they will continue to do so and probably at an accelerating rate.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: Jiri+Hudler, Joel+Kwiatkowski, KHL,
Comments
This reminds me of the 70’s when the WHA broke an agreement with the NHL not to sign underage (-20) juniors. The WHA had financial problems and said to hell with that and started signings some of the good 18 and 19 year old prospects. They even signed a 17-year old Wayne Gretzky.
Posted by Lindas1st on 07/11/09 at 11:22 AM ET
J.J. from Kansas
Actually, Article 12 NHL CBA provides some pretty clear guidance on the arbitration process.
NHL teams can only walkaway from player-elected salary arbitration decisions, and then in a very restricted fashion (i.e. once if they have one-to-two cases, twice if they have three-to-four cases, and so on). Teams cannot walkaway from club-elected salary arbitration decisions.
Players are only subject to one club-elected salary arbitration in their career.
So, if a team initiates salary arbitration, they are bound to the results, period. If a player initiates salary arbitration, he is bound to the results, period.
Here’s the nuts and bolts of the issue:
1. Hudler is a restricted free agent who received a qualifying offer from the Detroit Red Wings. Making that qualifying offer entitles the Red Wings with the right to match any contract offered to Hudler, or to receive compensation if they elect not to match.
2. Hudler initiated player-elected salary arbitration, meaning that he chose not to attempt to sign with another club, but committed himself to a process where a one or two-year contract would be forged with the Detroit Red Wings.
3. Hudler is the only player-elected salary arbitration case for the Red Wings this year, so the team would have the option to walkaway from the decision.
So the key question is: By committing to the arbitration process (and thus taking himself off the market to all other NHL teams and entering into a binding negotiation with the Detroit Red Wings), did Hudler also commit to not pursuing a contract with the KHL (given the understanding reached between the two leagues not to pursue players under contract)?
Posted by Matthew McCallum from Redding, California on 07/11/09 at 02:28 PM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Most Recent Blog Posts
I NOW Consider Joe Thornton A Hall Of Famer
NHL`s Opportunistic Fight With The NHLPA
Puck Daddy: Best Teams Were Pre-Lockout
About The Puck Stops Here
The Puck Stops Here was founded during the 2004/05 lockout as a place to rant about hockey. The original site contains over 1000 posts, some of which were also published on FoxSports.com.
Who am I?
A diehard hockey fan.
Why am I blogging?
I want to.
Why are you reading it?
???
Email:
Donate to Kukla’s Korner
What are the rights of a player after an arbitration hearing? We know that the team can walk away from the arbitrator’s decision, rendering the player an unrestricted free agent and leaving the team with nothing. I know it seems counterintuitive to even have a rule in place that addresses a player who does not wish to sign after the arbitrator makes his decision, but in this situation it seems as though it would be helpful to clarify the matter. I’m sure that the rule is out there somewhere. (of course the NHL rulebook means very little to the NHL league offices nowadays, it seems).
I would posit that the player’s decision would be to sign with the club or sit out demanding that his rights be traded. He still wouldn’t technically be under contract though and this is what it all boils down to. I don’t believe Hudler should be counted as being under contract, meaning the KHL did not break the verbal transfer agreement between the two leagues. Hudler should be allowed to play overseas for the duration of his contract. If he wants to come back to the NHL after that, the Red Wings retain his rights as an NHL free agent. I imagine that the arbitration hearing may still go forward. Two years from now, he can come back at the arbitration-decided number or he and/or Detroit can appeal for a new hearing under special circumstances.(or they could skip all the nonsense altogether and come to a salary agreement without an arbitrator.)
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 07/11/09 at 09:45 AM ET