by Anne
This Radulov situation is confusing.
So he's under contract for one more season in Nashville. This is true. This is a fact.
Also, he's been offered a contract to play in the Continental Hockey League (KHL) this upcoming season. This upcoming season when he is contractually obligated to play in Nashville. This is a fact. There are sources that declare that he has signed said contract with the KHL and will be vacating his contract with the Predators.
The Predators have a
statement up about it that also references an IIHF decree regarding the situation. The IIHF is where the buck stops between the NHL and the KHL. The NHL and the KHL are like a 6 year old and a 4 yead old brother fighting over their G.I. Joe (Radulov), I guess that makes the IIHF their Mom. The IIHF intervenes before things get ugly, it's like the UN of hockey. Basically, it declares that Radulov will be in Nashville next season, and that he cannot be lured away to Russia.
However as of this writing, TSN still had an
article up about Radulov heading back to the USSR as though it were an impending truth.
This will lead to some problems. A young player with promise who doesn't want to be playing where he's playing (clearly or he wouldn't have signed the contract) and has opportunities elsewhere (his home country). Combine that with a team that isn't in a strong hockey market (although during the SCF, at times they were #4 in ratings in the US), and you can easily forsee the issues that can arise, especially if he doesn't perform up to snuff. He played in all 82 games last year, scoring 58 points (22+36). He also gave Jason Arnott a concussion after celebrating a goal Arnott scored in the playoffs. He
might be a liability too. If he doesn't produce similar numbers, there will be a general crying out for his head, well, if people in Nashville get that worked up about it, I honestly don't know if they would. You better BELIEVE Buffalonians would. We'd have run Radulov out of town by now if he was a Sabre.
Anyway, the KHL and the NHL have supposedly reached an understanding to stop the NHL from hemorrhaging current European players under contract. And, I suppose, non-European players too. There is no official agreement in place, but there is an "understanding". I just hope this doesn't get messy. This could lead to some serious tension around the world.
There's also hope to increase international play. I'm just not 100% sure when all this international play would happen, considering the NHL schedule lasts the majority of the year, much to NHL fans' delight. I do enjoy international play, so I wouldn't be upset if this were to happen.
Ahhhh the tangled webs we weave.
MAX! DO NOT CREATE THIS KIND OF DRAMA FOR US!! PLEASE?!
