Going to be alot harder to move those players than that.

Just a friendly reminder that Michkov is signed to the KHL till he’s 20.

Yeah, I wonder how much it will affect his draft.

Given where highly ranked Russians fell this year
He's lucky to get taken top 20 and only if MIN or WSH have a pick lol
They're fine with the Gamble but most teams that dont deal with Russian politics regularly steer clear.

You really believe he'll drop that low?

Sadly Yes
He's signed until he's 20 in the KHL
so right away teams steer clear 9/10
There are exceptions though as Romanov was in a similar position
He was ranked to go as low as 5th round by year end rankings
MB took him in the 2nd round after scouting him almost 4 years personally (Federov turned him onto him)
Romanov though was a 14 year old kid when MB first saw him skating Practice's with his Grandfathers KHL team (the TBL of the KHL)
None of that mattered to me then i watched some of his games a rookie in the KHL and instantly got it as he was lightyears better then most KHL Veterans(just took a lot of avoidable penalties)

So based on that there could be a GM similar to MB who's been watching this kid for years and takes him gladly
But odds are if said team is selecting top 10 doubt they use that 2nd rounder to upgrade to a late 1st and get him there.

That's all before we even factor in Political Strife
Russian have been dropping in the drafts for a few years really
I still feel after the Doping scandal in the olympics created not only between the world and russia
But also between Russia and Russia Athlete's of Russia who competed anyways

F. Svechnikov was the only Russian in 2021 to go in the first round
Askarov , Mukhamadullin,Chinikuv and Amirov in 2020
Podkolzin in 2019 was the lone Russian again
A.Svechnikov, Kravatsov, Denesenko and Alexey in 2018
Klim Kostin the lonely russian taken last in the draft in 2017

Only 2/11 players were taken in the top 10
Only Svechnikov went top 3 and truth be told shoulda proably went 1st OA but Dahlin some how beat him out(Svechnikov couldnt be happier about it though lol)

Point im trying to make is you look back even past 5 years ago and the odds of only 1 Russian going in the 1st round are really low.
In order for a Russian to even go top 5 these days they got to be good enough to go 1st OA giving teams no option but to say yes to them.
During this time the number of Americans and Finn's taken has grown a lot

Am sure there are teams working around knowing what it would take to "pry" him from the clutches of mother Russia.

Issue isnt singular
Its like why Ovechkin cant comment against Putin it effects his family back home.
Despite that numerous American "Journalists" are calling for Ovi to "choose a side or stay in Russia"


Things were alway tight before
But there was a working relationship
Now that's seemingly gone atleast for now
I think some teams are better equipped to handle such things
But most just steer clear unless they're too good to pass up

There is exceptions
Those who come over to play Junior here get Preference
Logic being they've moved freely back and forth without issue
People assume its cause "Small Ice " or NHL Ice style isnt available in Russia
But since 2018 KHL has converted the majority of its rinks to a rink just slightly bigger (just enough to be spiteful and say its different lol)

Russian players are always Tricky
Some like Markov who are big Putin supports you dont have to worry about
You know he'll always get preference so you dont have to worry either way
Same thing with Ovi ,Kaprisov even an Orlov

But many of the younger players will be effected
For Example Khovanov who granted has stalled out in his development
But before that he was the only other QMJHL player averaging 2pts per game
MIN terminated his rights , they wont retain them until he's 27 like normal they waived that option

Khovanov i really feel for
We built on him and Mr Irving made a lot of moves to help him(or forced his GM to)
Like he did Connor Garland he built a deep core of future NHLer's around him
Going into his Junior year just before the playoffs after Wildcats just blew all their future picks for
Groulx,Fortier, and McIsaac that was in addition to L'Hearux, Andersson, Spence, Pelltier and Rodrigue
He was really set up to take that next step forward then a fews weeks before the playoffs boom it all ended.

The hassle quickly stops becoming worth it for all sides and they leave.
Unless they're making millions in the USA they cant afford US taxes plus what they have to pay Russia in taxes as citizens living there working in a foreign land.
Most Country's have an agreement like Canada/USA with citizens only subject to taxes where they're employed and not the typical Temporary Labor situation like Russia treats it.

KHL may pay less but the players get to keep more there
Its Putin trying to give Russians a reason to stay home and build up his League
Many have returned from the NHL to do so but few Chose the KHL over the NHL/AHL until recent years
Now you see Krill Kaprisov's using that as leverage for lower term and higher cap in a deal MIN didnt want to do
Even Aho had to use offer sheets to get that kinda Leverage but Kaprisov just needed to say "i'll be the KHL's Gretzky and make double "