[Rumor] Russia courting Malkin

[lanky522]

mr_mich wrote:

The real solution is to have Balsillie buy the KHL.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! :laugh:

Awesome. Man I ran right into that one with my head down! The rest of the post was completely serious, and then you throw that gem at the end and completely knock me off-balance! Well done! :silly:

[angelofharlem]

The Comish wrote:
[quote
The KHL can\'t afford to pay very many players of that calibre. Plus how are they going to generate income, the arenas are much smaller and the fans in most of those cities can\'t afford to pay anywhere near NHL ticket prices.

[/quote]

The only way they can do this is if they\'re willing to pay through the nose for the sake of ego. True, their revenue can\'t sustain it, but perhaps their personal fortunes can. Isn\'t Abramovich (hope I got that right) involved in this league? He seems to have unlimited coin, so he can pay whatever he wants if he\'s prepared to lose money on it. Why they would want to do this is beyond me though.

I find it laughable that this league has a salary cap, but the cap doesn\'t apply to any player who is signed away from an existing NHL contract. The league is set up specifically to poach players. As much as the NHL has been out of bounds in some of their dealings with Europe, this is clearly a step beyond.

Is it possible that this is all just a ploy to pressure the NHL into giving in to a new transfer agreement that\'s more to the Russians\' liking?

[The Comish]

lanky522 wrote:

The Comish wrote:

This will be interesting to follow. The NHL should ban (call it a suspension?) any player that breaks an existing contract to go play in another league. That way if the league doesn\'t pan out after a year or two, the player can\'t come crawling back begging an NHL owner to allow him to be paid millions of dollars for playing a frigging game.

interesting idea. I think that\'d do wonders to deter players from leaving... but at the same time, how many owners would be ok with this?

you know that if malkin were to leave to go to russia, and then decide two years from now he wanted to return, there\'d be 30 general managers lining up to sign him. We all know that bettman and the NHL are just puppets for the owners... I just don\'t see this sort of rule happening.

EDIT:
If Morozov were to decide to return to the NHL, there\'d be a line of general managers waiting for him at the airport. It\'s just the nature of the business...

Just look at what happened with Brunstrom. He was like the pope the way he was touring around North America...

Absolutely. The difference would be that Morozov and Yashin didn\'t break existing NHL contracts. If Malkin jumps ship while still having a year left on an NHL contract, the NHL may be able to convince all owners that something serious is needed to deter future \"defections\" (too funny using that word to describe someone fleeing back to Mother Russia!!).

[mister_mcgoo]

wow, just got through reading all the posts on this, what a fascinating development...Lanky I\'m blaming you for this mess because of all your bitching yesterday that \'Something significant needs to happen\'...now we\'ve got more than we bargained for.

As I was reading thru the posts one singular thought kept resonating with me and I was already formulating my response when I discovered DAW had beat me to the punch:

DAW wrote:

I had a problem when the NHL did not except the fact that Malkin was under contract to a RSL team.. Why should we be pissed if they don\'t except the fact that Malkin is under an NHL contract. The nhl is ripping teams across the pond for years.. Only Russia and now Sweden are doing something about it..

Exactly, if this does turn into a big cluster**** the NHL has absolutely no one to blame except themselves. They have shown zero integrity in their dealings with the Euro leagues to date, they can hardly expect to be treated fairly when the skate is on the other foot.

What this comes down to is the idea of a contract. The definition for \'contract\' is: \"An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law\". IMO these contracts should always be honored otherwise we\'ll get the same bullshit mess the NFL has where its a completely meaningless concept... So competing leagues need to respect the legality of each other\'s contracts and not poach players off one another or this is going to turn into a much greater problem.

That said, the impact this could have on the NHL, my Habs, and fantasy hockey are most disturbing.

[lanky522]

mister_mcgoo wrote:

wow, just got through reading all the posts on this, what a fascinating development...Lanky I\'m blaming you for this mess because of all your bitching yesterday that \'Something significant needs to happen\'...now we\'ve got more than we bargained for.

Yeah I find myself thinking the same thing... While I think that this would have happened reguardless of my complaints about being bored, it sure is a disturbing coincidence...

mister_mcgoo wrote:

DAW wrote:

I had a problem when the NHL did not except the fact that Malkin was under contract to a RSL team.. Why should we be pissed if they don\'t except the fact that Malkin is under an NHL contract. The nhl is ripping teams across the pond for years.. Only Russia and now Sweden are doing something about it..

Exactly, if this does turn into a big cluster**** the NHL has absolutely no one to blame except themselves. They have shown zero integrity in their dealings with the Euro leagues to date, they can hardly expect to be treated fairly when the skate is on the other foot.

What this comes down to is the idea of a contract. The definition for \'contract\' is: \"An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law\". IMO these contracts should always be honored otherwise we\'ll get the same bullshit mess the NFL has where its a completely meaningless concept... So competing leagues need to respect the legality of each other\'s contracts and not poach players off one another or this is going to turn into a much greater problem.

That said, the impact this could have on the NHL, my Habs, and fantasy hockey are most disturbing.

I completely agree... but when have the Russians ever gotten along with us North Americans? I mean as an American, I was tought in depth about the cold war, and world war II, and the threats of \"evil\" communism... The Russians haven\'t ever gotten along with us, and vice versa...

Bottom line is... us americans see something that we want and we take it. It\'s kind of our thing. That\'s why so many countries don\'t like us... we assert our will like children who failed kindergarten and sharing class...

I really don\'t see this ending with both sides agreeing to respect each other\'s contracts as the legal documents that they are... the NHL has poached way to many players from russia over the years for them to let by-gones be by-gones now...

If you recall, Fedorov snuck away too...

[mr_mich]

lanky522 wrote:
Bottom line is... us americans see something that we want and we take it. It\'s kind of our thing. That\'s why so many countries don\'t like us... we assert our will like children who failed kindergarten and sharing class...

Wow man...you make me proud. It\'s kind of true though, that\'s how we got this country started in the first place!

The US has stolen away players with money. The Russians are trying to do the same thing. Unfortunately for Russia, America + Canada has more money to fritter away on hockey players.

I doubt that it\'s news to Malkin that he can make a lot of money in the RSL if he wanted to leave. But he\'s already stated he doesn\'t expect league max from Pittsburgh anyways. The dude DID run away and take less money to play in the NHL in the first place. Unless the sticker shock is enough to woo him back over, it\'s possible that he just shrugs and goes for Cup Run Part II.

[YearOfTheFish]

mr_mich wrote:

Unfortunately for Russia, America + Canada has more money to fritter away on hockey players.

Ah yes, but Russia has way more \"nouveau riche\" that love to blow their new found wealth on toys.

edit: remember Roman Abramovich / Chelski

[Dobber]

What a great and spirited thread.

Mr Mich - great point about the IIHF. They have already suspended Chistov from tournament play for leaving the NHL in the middle of a contract and they would do the same to Malkin.


Anyway, so my point of view does not get buried, I blogged about this subject - and a great solution - in \"Dobber\'s Take\". Have a look!

B)

[dogsqb13]

one must also remember.....Malkin being Russian......this $15 million deal would be tax free.......so in essence , forgive my tax math here but.....for Malkin to clear $15 million US in Pittsburgh his contract would have to be $23-25 million .....if someone has a more definite % on tax , please feel free to chime in.

[lanky522]

In the end, one of two things will happen.

1) He\'ll stay in the nhl for less money (at least until his contract is done) because he values the competition.

2) He takes the greedy route and returns home to russia, is banned from international play, and possibly banned from returning to the NHL.

I don\'t know malkin and I don\'t know that anyone on these forums knows malkin, so I\'m not really sure what he will do. But I\'d be hard pressed to dismiss this rumor (even if he gets banned from international play), when he\'d be making two times as much as season in russia as he\'d be making here.

[angelofharlem]

I wonder why there\'s been no comment yet from either the Pens or Malkin\'s agent? I know everyone was busy with the draft, but haven\'t any reporters asked Shero about this during a draft-related interview? Seems odd that both sides are publicly ignoring it.

I\'d love to see Malkin state through his agent that he has no intention of leaving the NHL... though I suppose it strengthens his bargaining position to have this out there as an option, even if he has no interest in jumping.

[dthif1980]

I would not be surprised at all to learn that Bettman would have ordered media and GMs at the draft to not talk about this public. The last thing Bettman wants is to talk about this (and make publicity) at a week-end where the NHL is flourishing with new young talented players...

[angelofharlem]

Good point, could very well be.

[hockeylifer]

I agree. The NHL would want to keep things positive with all the attention being directed towards the draft. I bet the Penguins get moving on extending Malkin\'s contract.

[hockeylifer]

NHL.com is reporting that Malkin\'s agent has stated, that he was made an offer but, he will not be going to Russia. Shero has stated that it is his intent to sign Malkin to a long term deal.