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According to one prominent player agent, the Canadian Hockey League is expected to announce that 16- and 17-year-old Russian \u2014 and Belarussian \u2014 players would not be eligible for the upcoming Import Draft. It is a decision that comes on the heels of the International Ice Hockey Federation banning Russia from the world juniors and world under-18s, as well as the CHL cancelling its annual Canada-Russia exhibition series.<\/p>\n
And it is a decision that could have a ripple effect on the future of the NHL.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is huge,\u201d said Ukrainian-born player agent Dan Milstein, who represents the majority of Russian players. \u201cThe development of those children is big. Hockey is supposed to be for everyone. But how is this fair? You\u2019re punishing the wrong people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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What result \u2014 if any \u2014\u00a0this will have on this summer\u2019s NHL Entry Draft is not yet known. But keep an eye on where Russian-born forwards Danila Yurov and Ivan Miroshnichenko end up in the final draft rankings.<\/p>\n
In a normal year, both players would be considered top-10 \u2014 or even top-5 \u2014 picks in the draft. But this year is shaping up to be anything but normal.<\/p>\n
With Russian tanks and military forces rolling into the Ukraine\u2019s capital city, there have been calls for the NHL to stop of flow of Russians coming into the NHL. Retired goalie Dominik Hasek went one step further, tweeting that \u201cThe NHL must immediately suspend contracts for all (current) Russian players\u201d and called their \u201cexclusion a necessity.\u201d Even CCM Hockey has stopped using Alex Ovechkin and other Russian players in its marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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Add it all up and there\u2019s a good chance that teams could be pressured into passing on Yurov and Miroshnichenko in the first round. Depending on how ugly the war gets, the two teenagers might not get drafted at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still too early to tell,\u201d said North American Central Scouting\u2019s Mark Seidel, \u201cbut my gut feeling is that it will impact them. If you\u2019re an NHL team, is it politically good to take this kid? I think it\u2019s going to have an effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people think Yurov is the third-best player in the draft. With Miroshnichenko, we could be looking at him in five years as the best player. That\u2019s how good he is. Then again, we might never see him.\u201d<\/p>\n
We could be saying that about a lot of Russians.<\/p>\n
The CHL, which is considered the top feeder league for the NHL, has had a long history of developing Russians. Nail Yakupov spent two years playing for the Sarnia Sting before he was selected No. 1 overall in 2012. Andrei Svechnikov, who was the top pick in the 2017 CHL Import Draft, spent a year with the Barrie Colts before the Carolina Hurricanes selected him with the No. 2 overall.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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There are about 36 Russians and Belarussians currently playing in the CHL. That includes Edmonton Oilers prospect Matvey Petrov, who ranks eighth in OHL scoring with 70 points in 47 games and was the No. 1 pick (North Bay) in the 2020 CHL Import Draft, as well as Saginaw Spirit defenceman Pavel Mintyukov, who was expected to be a first-round pick in this year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n
Considering there were 29 Russians selected in last year\u2019s NHL draft \u2014 third-most of any country \u2014 the stakes are high.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will certainly most definitely hurt the NHL in the future,\u201d said Milstein. \u201cThis could be irreversible. Ten years from now, I could be in someone\u2019s living room trying to convince them to play in the NHL, and they will remember what happened this year. I know it\u2019s horrible what\u2019s going on in the world, but why are you punishing 16 year old kids?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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Ultimately, you\u2019re punishing the wrong people.<\/p>\n
Remember: these are hockey players \u2014 not soldiers. While they are Russian, this is not their war. Ovechkin might still have a photo of Vladimir Putin on his Instagram page, but Ovechkin is not advocating for the invasion of Ukraine. Instead, he\u2019s called for peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease, no more war,\u201d Ovechkin said last week.<\/p>\n
Simply put: the NHL is a better league with Russians than without.<\/p>\n
There are 55 Russians playing in the NHL this season, but the ones who are there tend to fall into the superstar category. Three of\u00a0the top-15 scorers are Russian, including Ovechkin, who is in the top-5 in goals, as well as Minnesota\u2019s Kirill Kaprizov, who was last year\u2019s Calder Trophy winner.<\/p>\n
Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers is considered the odds-on favourite to win the Vezina Trophy. That is unless Tampa Bay\u2019s Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy beats him out for it. Speaking of the Rangers and Lightning, former MVP\u00a0 Nikita Kucherov has 26 points in 17 games this season, while Artemi Panarin is tied for 15th in scoring.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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Imagine a league without Ovechkin or Vasilevskiy. Or \u2014 and this has scouts really worried \u2014 without future superstar Matvei Michkov.<\/p>\n
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The 17-year-old forward, who has been touted as the most exciting Russian prospect since Ovechkin, is not draft eligible until 2023, where some believe he will go No. 1 overall. But that was before Russia invaded Ukraine. Now, don\u2019t be surprised if Michkov, who is under contract to play for St. Petersburg in the KHL until 2026, remains in Russia long term.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the first guy I thought of when this talk started,\u201d said Seidel. \u201cWe will have to see how this all plays out and whether his contract changes or not. But that\u2019s the big one. That\u2019s the one that is going to hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
mtraikos@postmedia.com<\/p>\n
twitter.com\/Michael_Traikos<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n