NHL Looks to Freeze Unsigned Europeans

While other hockey writers are grasping at straws trying to manufacture storylines, the New York Post's Larry Brooks, whose Slap Shots column is on hiatus until the middle of September, keeps pushing out newsworthy copy. The latest -- a report saying that ex-NHLPA head Ted Saskin is prepared to testify against his former employer and on behalf of the league when it comes to an important detail inside the CBA regarding European-based players:

The issue at hand concerns the status of drafted European players who do not sign before June 2 of the second calendar year following their selections. Article 8.6 of the CBA states that clubs lose their rights to such players if they are not signed on or by that date.

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The NHL, however, is claiming that the absence of transfer agreements with European hockey federations renders that portion of the CBA obsolete. It is the league's position that those unsigned players revert to what was known as "defected status" under the CBA that expired on Sept. 15, 2004, and thus remain the property of their drafting clubs forever.

So what's the angle for Brooks? Of immediate concern to his hometown Rangers is the status of 2007 first round pick Alexei Cherapanov, currently playing with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. That would mean that Cherapanov, among others, would be eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal if he remains unsigned. The arbitration hearing where Saskin will appear is scheduled for tomorrow.

But here's where it gets a little hairier. Cherepanov, who announced last month that he'd be playing in Russia this upcoming season instead of in North America, is represented by The Puck Agency (they're blogging these days too) the same folks who represent erstwhile Nashville Predators winger Alexander Radulov. If this interview uncovered by Beyond the Blueshirts is any indication, Cherepanov is all too aware of the potential mine field he has to negotiate these days.