The Hockey News: Campbell's Cuts: Campbell's Cuts: New Russian league causing salary headaches for the NHL

Campbell's Cuts: New Russian league causing salary headaches for the NHL

Alexander Radulov celebrates his goal with teammates Jason Arnott, J.P. Dumont, and Marek Zidlicky during a game against the Detroit Red Wings. (Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images)

Ken Campbell
2008-07-14 14:19:30

There have been a number of factors in the NHL’s salary explosion over the years, but the domino that started it all was the establishment of the World Hockey Association in 1972.

Thirty-six years later, players have to be just as excited about the Continental Hockey League because it’s essentially opening a whole new world of idiots who are willing to overpay for them. Think about it. The pool of misguided sports entrepreneurs has just grown from 30 to 54 and nothing illustrates that better than Alexander Radulov’s renegade deal with Ufa Salavat of the KHL.

Forget that the people who run Ufa don’t seem to have any regard for the sanctity of a contract, they don’t seem to have a very good grasp on hockey talent, either. In Radulov, they had a player who was disgruntled with his contract and his playing situation and wanted to return home, yet Ufa decided to give him $4.33 million a year for the next three seasons.

Who do these guys think they are, the Toronto Maple Leafs?

As of Monday, all appeared to be status quo on the Radulov front with respect to the validity of the deal he signed with Ufa, but the NHL maintains it will continue to take a hard line and insist that the KHL reject the contract outright based on the peace accord struck between the NHL and the KHL the day before the Radulov deal with Ufa was announced.

But even if Radulov is ordered to play for Nashville next season, the problem certainly doesn’t end there. First of all, Radulov will be the biggest sour puss of all-time if he’s forced to go and play in Nashville for $948,000 next season (remember Dear Reader, these people do not live in the real world). It will also likely mean Radulov’s deal with Ufa will simply be delayed a year.

What’s more, the new peace pact has no provision for tampering. If an NHL team were to approach Radulov with the prospect of signing a future deal while he was still under contract to the Predators, it would be subject to tampering charges with the price being draft picks and millions of dollars in fines. What power does the NHL have over Russian teams that tampered with its players?

None. Just like it has no power over having potentially 24 more teams willing to overpay its players. Surely, Ufa knows Radulov hasn’t even scored a total of 50 goals in his two NHL seasons and he’s prone to long periods of low productivity. Certainly they’re aware when the Predators needed him most in Games 5 and 6 of their first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings, Radulov ran and hid, going scoreless with just two shots and a minus-2 rating.

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Perhaps he was just scared to go in the corners after injuring teammate Jason Arnott during a goal celebration.

Not to worry, Ufa was still willing to give him the equivalent of $6 million a season, proving beyond a doubt sheer lunacy knows no borders when it comes to hockey.

It’s doubtful the KHL will be able to sustain these kinds of contracts, but it’s clear the league has every intention of making life miserable for the NHL, at least in the short term.

And that’s great news for the players.

CUP RUNNETH OVER WITH…YUCK
It’s great every player from the Stanley Cup-winning team gets a day during the summer with the most beautiful trophy in sports. By having the Cup for a day, the player gets to share his accomplishment with the people most important for his success and, in many cases, it’s also used for charitable causes and to brighten the lives of those who are less fortunate.

But with that privilege also comes a sense of responsibility. I’ve said it time and again, but no league cheapens itself more than the NHL and the kinds of things the Cup seems to be exposed to in the summer does nothing to change my opinion.

What else do you expect from a league that aligns itself with a potato chip company and allows Mark Messier to bring the Cup to your basement for a night?

The Cup, to a very small extent, belongs to us all. There’s nothing wrong with making it accessible to fans and allowing them to see it close up, touch it and have their pictures taken with it.

But then you hear things such as people eating ice cream out of it. Apparently that’s a pretty common occurrence. A couple of years ago, Kris Draper put his daughter in the bowl without a diaper on and she pooped in the Cup.

And nobody seems to have a problem with that.

It’s time the league and the Hall of Fame set guidelines for the treatment of the Cup and it’s time the players who received it take some personal responsibility for how they treat it when they have it in their possession.

Ken Campbell is a senior writer for The Hockey News and a regular contributor to THN.com. His blog appears Tuesdays and Fridays and his column, Campbell's Cuts, appears Mondays.

For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

COMMENTS (29)

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Boris Posted
(2009-04-30 06:38:06)

Stira, it's hardly personal to me, but seems to be to you especially since your response consists primarily of rather empty assertions about who/what "the best ____" are. These are just opinions and cannot, by their very nature proven. My points, on the other hand, tended to be about factual matters such the financial realities of professional sport and the (non-)jurisdiction of the IIHF in NHL/KHL transfers. You should watch that film "The Fan" with Bob DeNiro, I think you really misunderstand the point of professional sport. It IS just entertainment. The Penguins lost the NHL championship last season - so what? In terms of their business model (fan base, sales of tickets and merchandise, expansion of market etc.) it was just as good. Did the players want to win, well of course. Did many of their UFAs leave after the season? Yes...

stira Posted
(2009-04-30 06:37:50)

BORIS, I feel that this issue may be a little more personal for you, I am just speaking matter-of-factly. In response to a few of your assertions (1) "Whether the NHL is the best..." - The NHL is the best hockey league in the world, any argument otherwise at this point in time is just plain unfounded. The two best players in the world, and especially the two best Russians in the world play in the NHL, until the KHL has someone of their CURRENT stature, this is a moot point. (2) "Soviet dominance" - what this has to do with the current state of hockey in 2008 is of little relevance. I think we can agree that Canada is currently the No.1 producing hockey country in the world, again moot point. (3) "Russians like having the freedom to make decision for themselves" - of course they do, Radulov signed an entry level deal with Nashville. Bottom line he has a contract in place which he orchestrated and committed to. Just to remove any bias you may assume on my part, I understand the history of Russians "fleeing" to the NHL, if these contracts were signed in GOOD FAITH then they too should have been responsible to complete their contractual agreements. (4) "Most athletes will never win a championship" - Athletes get paid to win championships, I pay a ridiculous amount of my salary in the hopes that my team will win a championship, not to be entertained but to win. You think Ufa paid Jagr 7 mil to entertain, they paid to win. Make no mistake, players are motivated to win.

Boris Posted
(2009-04-30 06:37:47)

Stira, with all due respect, your post seems a little naive to me. Most athletes will never win a championship in professional sport, and they have a few short years to make all their money. An injury could cut that time frame short at any moment. To paraphrase Billy Bob Thornton's character in the film version of Friday Night Lights: the difference between winning and losing is not that much. To dictate what should motivate anybody else, much less an elite athlete playing on an entry-level contract in a foreign land is a bit presumptuous no? I'm not going to argue about whether the NHL is "the best"...that just seems goofy to me. All those years of Soviet dominance in international play make me wonder where that assertion comes from. To most of the world there's only one game that matters and they don't play it with a puck and sticks although they do have nets and their plays do get paid handsomely. In fact, the clubs in that sport buy and sell players like commodities and so I think maybe your point of reference is just off here. We live in a global world, try to see the bigger picture. At any rate, Radulov signed the contract, so it's obviously what he wanted to do. Russians like having the freedom to make decisions for themselves these days, who are you to take that away from them, I think they've waited long enough for that right.

Boris Posted
(2009-04-30 06:37:45)

KC you are so misguided. Your column makes it sound like there is actually a transfer agreement in place between these two leagues and there isn't. There were discussions and evidently both sides have a different understanding of what that means - imagine my surprise, that's why there are lawyers an contracts in the world. BTW, why do YOU care what NHL players get paid or if the KHL might makes those salaries go up? Is it coming out of your discretionary funds at THN? Why are you talking about the sanctity of contracts? Where were you on Malkin being jacked out of a Russian leage or on the Leafs trying to opt out of the no-trade clauses in their in-place contracts? It would just be so refreshing if THN writers didn't always feel compelled to take sides in these things, just tell us the facts and details, including all of the details. There's so much history and detail that you've left out here that if I didn't already know them I'd be persuaded that Radulov's a bad guy and that the NHL is the victim here. Oh wait, that's what you want me to believe...Why?

stira Posted
(2009-04-30 06:37:44)

BORIS, while not debating the greater evil between Malkin and Radulov (as I believe in the sanctity of a contract and keeping your word [whether verbal, written, pinky sweared or whatever]), Radulov comes across badly because as I stated in an earlier post. For athletes of that stature the ultimate motivation should be winning and being the BEST. For a player with tremendous upside and alot yet to prove (in comparison to the names that have left: Jagr, Straka, Emery, Brylin, etc.). Leaving for an inferior league (which it is at this point in time, JUL 08) seems like a loser mentality and the money makes it all the more souring. It's easier to cheer for Malkin (while still making alot of coin) turned down more money in Russia for the chance to play with and at times under Crosby, Radulov on the other hand isn't even near their level and went home to be TOP DOG for an inferior team.

stira Posted
(2009-04-30 06:37:31)

Bottom line is the elite players want to play in the NHL. Athletes are a motivated breed and the best motivation for them is winning. It's why the Olympics are more important than the World's, and why the NHL is better than the KHL. The only way the KHL could ever be deemed a threat is if they picked up Crosby or Ovechkin (who are both signed long term) or maybe Tavares, even if Malkin left with these players playing in the NHL, Hockey players will want to play there. It's one thing to beat a a team consisting of Ray Emery, a 38 year old Jagr, and Radulov. It's another thing entirely to beat Crosby, Ovechkin, or even a 35 year old Brodeur. For those motivated by money, $6 mil contracts won't be the norm as the KHL does have a cap in place (which is about half the NHL's current $56). So if poaching Radulov is a threat, who cares the NHL already poached Malkin, and that makes Radulov (by comparison) small potatoes.

Chris Posted
(2009-04-30 06:37:00)

Someone should poop on Draper.

Jordan Posted
(2009-04-30 06:36:42)

Georges- dont get me wrong, I'm not saying it cant happen, you do make good points. I just think that even a Euro league was created, it's going to take them a long time to get to the NHL's level, if ever. The NHL is also a lot bigger than it was when the WHA came around, plus the media presence is a lot stronger from than too, if nothing else for just the internet. There is also the factor of how many North American players are going to want to go to Europe? I guess that brings up another question- could it eventually devolve into the NHL being just North American players and the KHL/ECHL league being just Euro players? Maybe a bit extreme but an interesting thought.

Jordan Posted
(2009-04-30 06:36:39)

Georges, cant say I agree with you regarding the rise the KHL or of a possible Euro league. Russia has some billionaires stepping up to the plate, and signing one guy away doesnt mean the KHL is on the rise. Who are the other prominent players they've "stolen" away? Ray Emery who was bought out a year after a new deal? A Jagr that will retire in a few years? If they keep over paying for guys like those, are they really a threat? They're biggest bid was for Malkin and thier attempt seemed to barely even register with him. As for an ECHL, easier said than done. Are cities going to want to pony up for brand new arenas? Will the arenas be the quality of the NHL rinks, a factor when a player wants to go over (I've heard Russian rinks arent that great, nor are their means of travel ofr the team)? Are the new owners willing to pony up the money for a new franchise, arena and players? Will their revenue be close to what the NHL gets while paying the players the same thing? It's all easier said than done, and I just dont think the KHL will be able to offer the prominence the NHL does, and I dont think that is a factor that should be under stated.

Maverick Posted
(2009-04-30 06:36:37)

Didn't the former Soviet Union stop the arms race with the United States because the United States simply was richer? How long can this last? Who knows? The KHL's success depends on their organization in financial matters so that they can try to compete with the NHL. The real problem is if they will manage better than the former WHA or as good as the NHL, they will give the NHL some real problems.

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