| 2008 brought us the birth of Europe's top ranked | | | | been more) amount to what could be a Stanley Cup |
| hockey league - the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League), | | | | contending team in the NHL. While some of them |
| formed from the preexisting Russian Superleague. | | | | (Lindstrom, Motzko, Sprukts, Ramo) weren't getting the |
| Almost immediately, KHL teams were able to lure over | | | | chances they deserved in the NHL, others are |
| NHLers and get them signed to hefty contracts. | | | | considerable losses. It now looks as if there won't be |
| The KHL and NHL have reached an agreement in | | | | much the Detroit Red Wings or the NHL can do to |
| principle, whereby each league honours the contracts | | | | stop Jiri Hudler from signing with the KHL. Next up may |
| of the other. However, there is still a lot of controversy | | | | be Nikolai Zherdev, who is set to become a UFA |
| surrounding what is becoming dubbed "KHL poaching" | | | | within the next 24 hours if the New York Rangers |
| - the loss of quality NHL players to the KHL. | | | | decide not to sign him to the $3.9 million contract he |
| While I don't want to get into the whole uproar, I would | | | | was awarded in arbitration, and aren't able to trade him |
| like to point out that the NHL has been getting some of | | | | to a team who will. There has been some interest in |
| it's best talent out of Russia for quite some time. | | | | Zherdev from the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it wouldn't |
| Vladislav Tretiak, Viacheslav Fetisov, Sergei Makarov, | | | | surprise me to see him wind up in the KHL. |
| Igor Larionov, Darius Kasparaitis, Vladimir Konstantinov, | | | | Without a doubt, many NHL teams would have loved |
| Alexander Mogilny, Pavel Bure, and Sergei Fedorov | | | | to sign these players... So where is the problem? The |
| were all Russian-born players. No hockey fan can | | | | huge contracts and lowered income taxes are surely |
| deny the presence of current Russian talent like | | | | not the only motivation for players to leave for the |
| Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya | | | | KHL - why can't NHL teams compete? |
| Kovalchuk, Alexander Semin, Alex Kovalev, Sergei | | | | It is my opinion that the culprit lies in the salary cap. For |
| Gonchar, Andrei Markov, and Evgeni Nabokov. Would | | | | one thing, teams are pressed so tightly against the cap |
| the league be the same without them? I don't think so. | | | | ceiling that they can't afford to offer many high-priced, |
| In the end, the onus is on the player to sign where he | | | | competitive contracts - even if they would be in the |
| wants to play. The KHL cannot be blamed for trying to | | | | financial position to do so. Furthermore, the following |
| lure quality players to their league, especially when you | | | | season's salary cap is presently calculated using the |
| consider the longstanding tradition of top-end Russian | | | | current season's league revenues - which makes it an |
| talent migrating to North America. For NHL fans like | | | | unknown, especially in tough economic times. The |
| myself, however, it is impossible to ignore the loss of | | | | salary cap/floor was intended to achieve league parity, |
| talent we are experiencing. Here is a condensed list of | | | | but so far it has done anything but that. As of this |
| some NHLers who left to the KHL last summer: | | | | writing, the Chicago Blackhawks are the team with the |
| Jaromir Jagr | | | | highest payroll - just under $60 million. The Nashville |
| Alexander Radulov | | | | Predators are the team with the lowest payroll, at two |
| Marcel Hossa | | | | thirds of that - just over $40 million. Does that sound |
| Ladislav Nagy | | | | like parity? |
| Marcus Nilson | | | | But while it's easy to gripe about the cap, solutions are |
| Chris Simon | | | | harder to come by. I have read around and done my |
| Sergei Brylin | | | | best to come up with a few ideas for potential |
| Andrei Zyuzin | | | | answers to the problem... which one do you like best? |
| Jozef Stumpel | | | | 1 - Change the salary cap by making it no longer |
| Branko Radivojevic | | | | based on league revenue, so that tough economic |
| Josef Vasicek | | | | times and lowered ticket sales won't mean a diluted |
| Karel Rachunek | | | | talent pool, which would further diminish revenues. |
| Bryan Berard | | | | 2 - Allow teams to go over the cap, but increase the |
| Ray Emery | | | | percentage of revenues that team must share if they |
| A future Hall of Famer, a few veterans who had | | | | do. This would give big market teams the ability to |
| skated in more than 500 NHL games, and a solid | | | | offer big contracts, while even further helping the |
| bunch of promising young players - all, with maybe one | | | | smaller market clubs. |
| exception, who could have played in the NHL last | | | | 3 - Get clubs out of small markets where revenue is |
| season. Now take a look at who the NHL has lost so | | | | low, unstable, and dependant on other franchises. This |
| far this summer: | | | | would help increase revenues league-wide, possibly |
| Sergei Fedorov | | | | circumventing some of the cap's negative risks. |
| Viktor Kozlov | | | | 4 - Introduce cap discounts to teams who sign |
| Sergei Zubov | | | | homegrown players. In other words, if a team is |
| Sandis Ozolinsh | | | | renegotiating a contract with a player they originally |
| Dmitri Kalinin | | | | drafted, a discount of somewhere between 20-40% |
| Richard Zednik | | | | could be applied to that player's cap hit. This option |
| Radek Bonk | | | | would let teams retain talent that they have developed, |
| Ville Peltonen | | | | while still allowing them to be active on the free agent |
| Daniel Tjarnqvist | | | | market. |
| Joakim Lindstrom | | | | So what do you think? Feel free to let me know which |
| Joe Motzko | | | | option you think is best, or suggest one of your own in |
| Janis Sprukts | | | | the comments section. I like the 4th option most, as it |
| Martin Gerber | | | | puts more emphasis on solid drafting and organizational |
| Mikael Tellqvist | | | | skills. Mind you, I think the 2nd option would be easiest |
| Karri Ramo | | | | to administer. Implementing both options could be a |
| Starting to feel a bit nervous? I don't blame you - over | | | | possibility as well... |
| the last two years, these losses alone (and there have | | | | |