NHL Free Agency 2010: Are Russian Free Agents Becoming "Persona Non Grata"?

The Russians were the Canadians' fierce and bitter rivals in the early 1970′s.

The Canada-Russia Summit Series was the culmination of that bitter hatred. In what many hockey experts called “Hockey’s Cold War,” this summit series not only put Russia on the hockey map, but also brought Russians over to North America for the first time.

Russians coming over to North America these days is not a strange thing to see. But nowadays, Russian NHLers have begun their journey home to play in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Alexei Yashin, Alexander Radulov, Viktor Kozlov, Sergei Zubov, and most recently, goaltender Evgeni Nabokov have done as such.

So why has there been such little activity in signing free agent Russian players?

Why has there been a rapid decline of Russian players taken in the first round of the NHL Draft?

Has Russia truly taken themselves out of the hockey world and secluded themselves on an island?

To answer the first question, the lack of activity in Russian free agents can be attributed mostly to Ilya Kovalchuk and his taking his sweet time to make a decision. Granted, it's a big decision, but when NHL teams are offering you rumored 15 and 17 year deals for $100 million and no decision is made, something is fishy.

According to reports, Kovalchuk was offered a three-year, $42 million deal from the KHL. This deal would see he gets paid an average of $14 million a season—far more than anything he could get in the NHL.

A conflicting report claims the deal was actually for nine million dollars a season. Either way, Kovalchuk stands to make just as much money in his homeland as he does here in North America.

The only Russian unrestricted free agents to sign with an NHL team include shot blocking guru Anton Volchenkov, who signed a six-year, $25.5 million contract with the New Jersey Devils, and defenseman Sergei Gonchar who signed a three-year, $16.5 million deal with the Ottawa Senators . Nikolai Zherdev was added by the Flyers on a one-year, $2 million deal.

Russian free agents yet to sign include Ilya Kovalchuk, Maxim Afinogenov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Evgeny Artyukhin, Slava Kozlov, and Alexander Frolov, among others.

Have they not yet signed because of Kovalchuk’s indecision, or is it that NHL GM’s are becoming more and more careful when looking at possible flight risks?

The Flyers deal is a great example of this. They are only on the hook for Zherdev for one season. If he does terribly or doesn’t fit in well, he’s gone by next season.

To answer my second question, Russian forwards, due to a transfer agreement, are getting taken less and less early in the first round of the NHL draft. Now, due to the KHL, rarely do we see Russians even taken in the first round at all.

In this past draft, only Alexander Burmistrov was taken in the top-10, and he played for the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. Evgeni Kuznetsov and Vladimir Tarasenko were the other players taken in the first round. This was the most taken since 2004 when Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Alex Radulov were taken in the first round.

Since then, Russian players have either seen their stock drop, or if they were drafted, most haven’t made it over here yet. The exception to that rule is Alexei Cherapanov, who also saw his stock dramatically take a nosedive, but then unfortunately died on the ice of an apparent heart attack.

Players like Nikita Filatov haven’t played a full season yet in the NHL, and players like Radulov have decided to go back to Russia. If you’re a GM, why take that chance?

Russian players aren’t doing any favors for themselves using the KHL as a negotiating tactic. It's scaring teams off, and is probably the exact reason Kovalchuk hasn’t signed anywhere. He’s using the KHL as a tactic to make more money, but it appears teams are getting sick and tired of this game he’s playing with them.

Only time will tell the story for Kovalchuk and the others, but this NHL hockey fan hopes this madness ends quickly.