NHL, Russians Reach Transfer Agreement
12/07/2008 05:31
ZURICH, Switzerland - The NHL reached an agreement with a new Russian hockey league Thursday that temporarily ends the threat of players being lured away by big-money offers.
The pact to respect player contracts across all borders followed offers made last month by teams in Russia's Continental Hockey League - which begins play in September - to entice Evgeni Malkin out of the final year of his deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It was reached at a meeting of the NHL, the NHL Players' Association and international hockey leagues in Zurich, the home of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
"Everyone in the room agreed that for the foreseeable future everyone will respect everybody's contracts," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.
Players' union director Paul Kelly said all parties recognized the need for "clear respect between leagues."
The deal was brokered with Russian league founder Alexander Medvedev, who had given his teams a green light to approach players like Malkin.
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SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
This is good news, particularly for the NHL and NHL hockey fans.