[Rumor] Russia courting Malkin

[Crazynuck]

NHL trade rumors are mostly unrealiable but this rumor is something that should be put into a seperate category. This rumor is seprate from the NHL and involves the KHL.

[GopherHockey]

lanky522 wrote:

drobbins wrote:

This seems a little far fetched, there are tons of rumors flying around and I haven\'t seen one legitimate source in the press say anything about this.

I\'m sure a lot of you have read this but....

\"You guys make up more stuff than I can ever imagine,\" Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray told reporters on Thursday. \"I heard a rumour last night that Pittsburgh was moving one of their star players. I talked to their manager today to see if I could be included in the discussions and they kind of laughed at me.\"

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=2411...=headlines_nhl

Yes, but how many of the far-fetched rumors did dobber cover in his ramblings?

This one is from a fairly legit source... just read what dobber wrote in his ramblings:

\"The FAN590 is reporting that that Malkin number is actually $15 million per season. This will test how much the new \"Continental League\" will impact the NHL. If it works, we may have to start fantasy leagues based on that circuit!

Toronto Star\'s Rick Westhead, who has a reputation for digging up truths - big stories at that - is reporting that the Russians are poised to offer Evgeni Malkin a contract worth $12.3 million TAX FREE (of course) per season. Stay tuned.\"

And seriously, why wouldn\'t the Russians offer Malkin something huge?

man, I didn\'t see the other sources reporting this, that\'s crazy.

Has anyone here ever been over to Russia or anything? Do those teams create enough revenue to pay players that kind of money? How many people to their rinks hold? And do they fill up? Do they get big TV contracts?

[lanky522]

Crazynuck wrote:

NHL trade rumors are mostly unrealiable but this rumor is something that should be put into a seperate category. This rumor is seprate from the NHL and involves the KHL.

yeah, and unlike the other farfetched rumors... it isn\'t being reported on blog sites and hockey tabloids... it\'s being reported by reputable sports writers, and reputable sports sites... That post made by elevatemysoul (above) from sportsnet.ca literally gave me chills.

This one is real folks... whether it pans out, only time will tell, but it\'s most definitely real.

[lanky522]

drobbins wrote:

man, I didn\'t see the other sources reporting this, that\'s crazy.

Has anyone here ever been over to Russia or anything? Do those teams create enough revenue to pay players that kind of money? How many people to their rinks hold? And do they fill up? Do they get big TV contracts?

I\'m not sure about any of that, but if they can produce two of the most gifted hockey players in the world (ovechkin/malkin), I\'d say that there is most definitely a hockey culture over there... Whether it\'s as big as canada\'s following, I doubt it... but I\'d imagine that hockey is every bit as big over there as it is in the U.S.

[hossa]

read this please...you guys believe all the summer rumours..LOL

TSN has reported that Malkin and the Pens have a deal in place and are only waiting until July 1 when they can officially resign him.

Supposedly it\'s 5 years at $9 million per season.

[babalu69]

i refuse to bealive this....lol, Why wouldnt this sucky league with scrubs offer ovechkin the 15mil before when they could instead. He is more of a fan favorite type player.

[lanky522]

vince wrote:

read this please...you guys believe all the summer rumours..LOL

TSN has reported that Malkin and the Pens have a deal in place and are only waiting until July 1 when they can officially resign him.

Supposedly it\'s 5 years at $9 million per season.

Um... what have we been saying...? Who cares about what deal they have in place... bottom line is regardless of whether malkin has a deal here or not, he can accept that offer from russia at any time and leave.

[GopherHockey]

vince wrote:

read this please...you guys believe all the summer rumours..LOL

TSN has reported that Malkin and the Pens have a deal in place and are only waiting until July 1 when they can officially resign him.

Supposedly it\'s 5 years at $9 million per season.

Well wouldn\'t this just be another rumor?

[lanky522]

babalu69 wrote:

i refuse to bealive this....lol, Why wouldnt this sucky league with scrubs offer ovechkin the 15mil before when they could instead. He is more of a fan favorite type player.

because ovechkin would reject them outright. he\'s the franchise player... he\'s hand picked his linemates... he\'s embraced the city, the english language, and the people...

Malkin on the other hand... still can\'t speak english or really even understand it... he isn\'t the \"franchise\" player... and he always get\'s crosby\'s left overs in terms of linemates...

[GopherHockey]

babalu69 wrote:

i refuse to bealive this....lol, Why wouldnt this sucky league with scrubs offer ovechkin the 15mil before when they could instead. He is more of a fan favorite type player.

#1 It\'s not a sucky league with scrubs

#2 From what I\'ve heard Ovechkin isn\'t interested in playing over there and on top of that he can make up the salary with endorsments which Malkin may have a harder time doing considering he doesn\'t speak english

[Narayan]

The reason why \"most\"(i.e NA born) players wont play in Russia is the life style over there. Sure the money is potentially better but what about their day to day living.

In saying that... I can see them \"getting\" Russia players or even europeans to move over. It\'s not a big culture shock when you have grown up there.

If Malkin actually does leave it could actually be very good for the NHL to get there ASSES in gear and do something about it.

[lanky522]

drobbins wrote:

vince wrote:

read this please...you guys believe all the summer rumours..LOL

TSN has reported that Malkin and the Pens have a deal in place and are only waiting until July 1 when they can officially resign him.

Supposedly it\'s 5 years at $9 million per season.

Well wouldn\'t this just be another rumor?

Yep. Touche! :laugh:

drobbins wrote:

babalu69 wrote:

i refuse to bealive this....lol, Why wouldnt this sucky league with scrubs offer ovechkin the 15mil before when they could instead. He is more of a fan favorite type player.

#1 It\'s not a sucky league with scrubs

#2 From what I\'ve heard Ovechkin isn\'t interested in playing over there and on top of that he can make up the salary with endorsments which Malkin may have a harder time doing considering he doesn\'t speak english

I completely agree. My thoughts exactly. Makes a lot of sense for them to target Malkin and not Ovechkin. Plus A.O. just started a clothing line!

[angelofharlem]

vince wrote:

read this please...you guys believe all the summer rumours..LOL

TSN has reported that Malkin and the Pens have a deal in place and are only waiting until July 1 when they can officially resign him.

Supposedly it\'s 5 years at $9 million per season.

This same TSN is now running the Russia story. Rene Fasel has already weighed in on it, and his comments are somewhat encouraging. Here\'s the article:

TSN-If the new Russian professional hockey league has its way, the National Hockey League career of Hart Trophy candidate Evgeni Malkin will be pretty short.

According to a report in the Toronto Star, the Russian teams are prepared to offer the Russian-born Malkin a contract that would make him the highest-paid hockey player in the world. The multi-year contract would be worth at least $12.5 million tax free per season, or the equivalent of $15 million per year in the NHL.

\"Hey, we can afford to pay more than the NHL right now,\" a high-ranking executive with the Russian league, called the Continental League, told the Star. \"Our economy is commodities-based so we\'re not going through the same problems that you have in America.\"

The Continental League executive confirmed to the Star that some teams have already offered contract to some players that are already under contract to NHL clubs.

According to the executive, the league is not worried about the NHL legally contesting any contract offers

\"What happened with Malkin when he came to the NHL?\" the official said.

Malkin was drafted by the Penguins in 2004, but remained in Russia because his club team argued he already had an existing contract. When Malkin eventually joined the Penguins, his club team unsuccessfully filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NHL, again insisting he already had a contract in Russia.

However, International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel was quick to respond that any tampering with a player currently under contract could be met with consequences.

\"Although there will be no imminent Player Transfer Agreement between the IIHF and the NHL, all involved parties are in principal agreement to honour each other\'s contracts,\" says Fasel. \"The NHL has informed the IIHF that this will be the policy of the league during the period without a PTA, and conversely, the IIHF has obligated its member national federations and leagues to do the same in its relations with the NHL.\"

\"We would view any signing, from either side, of a player under a valid contract, who does not have any legally valid out-clause, to be a clear violation of the mutual understanding and existing principle. It would potentially be punishable with suspended national team eligibility and suspension from all competition or activity organized by the IIHF or any IIHF member national association. This would include events like the Olympic Winter Games, the IIHF World Championship or international club competitions like the Champions Hockey League.\"

\"Given this, we are confident that the report is not substantiated.\"

Malkin is eligible to sign an extension with the Penguins as of July 1st. However, should the two parties not agree to terms, Malkin would become a restricted free agent following next season.

[lanky522]

elevatemysoul wrote:

However, International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel was quick to respond that any tampering with a player currently under contract could be met with consequences.

\"Although there will be no imminent Player Transfer Agreement between the IIHF and the NHL, all involved parties are in principal agreement to honour each other\'s contracts,\" says Fasel. \"The NHL has informed the IIHF that this will be the policy of the league during the period without a PTA, and conversely, the IIHF has obligated its member national federations and leagues to do the same in its relations with the NHL.\"

\"We would view any signing, from either side, of a player under a valid contract, who does not have any legally valid out-clause, to be a clear violation of the mutual understanding and existing principle. It would potentially be punishable with suspended national team eligibility and suspension from all competition or activity organized by the IIHF or any IIHF member national association. This would include events like the Olympic Winter Games, the IIHF World Championship or international club competitions like the Champions Hockey League.\"

\"Given this, we are confident that the report is not substantiated.\"

I\'m not sure if this makes makes me feel better or worse about the malkin situation...

sounds to me like the president is all but saying that there\'s nothing more than a verbal agreement not to mess with each other\'s players and that it\'s a \"mutual understanding\"...

Well there have been lots of mutual understandings throughout history that didn\'t end up working out...

Here\'s one that the russians probably remember:
Hitler: Hey I won\'t attack you if you don\'t attack me
Stalin: Ok, good. Sounds like we have a mutual understanding :unsure:

Secondly, it\'s potentially punishable??? potentially? Seriously? That would sure as heck deter me if I were the russians and I were trying to poach NHL stars.

[dthif1980]

now that TSN and Sportsnet are in the loop, my hope to trade Malkin as vanished. At least, I won 1st place this year hehe.

The new league has targeted the perfect player for this. It is a strategical move and whatever the decision is by Malkin, it will have great repercussions.

For the reasons mentioned above, no other NHL player is in the position to really appreciate this offer. Malkin is gonna be the ice breaker.

- If the RHL successfully attracts Malkin, the gates are wide open for all other NHLers with $$$ instead of heart. The RHL strategy will have worked.

- If Malkin declines, he proves:
1- He\'s a real hockey player and even with the english-problems he has, he accepted a less-paid contract for the love of the sport and the competition in the NHL.
2- He will have my respect for ethernity (but I\'m pretty sure he don\'t give a shit about it hehe)
3- He will certainly gain respect from all the NHL;
4- He puts the pressure on the next RHL target;
5- The RHL will have a little more problems attracting players if the best target as declined a ton of money;

I bet he stays.