The KHL.
What's the first thought when you hear 'the KHL' ?
It's a mixed bag. Some dislike it due to it being a perceived threat to the NHL. Some feel it's a blackhole where washed up players go to finish careers. Others drop hints that it is some mob controlled free for all. All of these are based on a misunderstanding of the league.
What the KHL truly is is arguably the second most competitive league in the world, which is home to many talented Russian players, NHL prospects, and former NHL players. In more recent years the KHL has also attempted to expand, encompass more teams, and attract higher skilled players from all leagues. They've also started paying players extremely well. Well enough to make some NHLers of European birth question why they are taking buses from Albany to Utica to Rochester to make $70K a year. It's a long and arduous task for a player to come through the ranks of the AHL and NHL, and if they haven't had the dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup since birth it can be an incredibly difficult and disconsolate journey. Therein lies some disconnect between the NHL/AHL and the KHL.
Many see the KHL and Europe is an out for many players. They can go home, live comfortable lives, get paid well, and still play the game that they love in a very competitive league. Some view it as a league that is for the lesser player who couldn't cut it in the NHL or didn't want to try.
Here in North America and in the NHL it begins and ends with the Cup. There is no other accolade. You either win it or you don't, and that can define a career. This isn't to say that the way the KHL does things is wrong and the NHL is right. It's just a difference. Each has merit in their own right. But the modern North American player is painted as one who doesn't care of money or fame, only of the cup. These pictures are obviously being painted with very broad strokes.
With these things in mind, the KHL is a curious league to compare to the NHL. One that is fairly foreign to the ideals of your average North American hockey player. If you grew up in Europe, the Stanley cup may not be the ultimate goal on your journey. You may have never raised a cardboard Stanley Cup on the pond out back and pretended it was Lord Stanley's chalice. It's just not something that European players often grow up thinking about. As a North American soccer player are you dreaming of hoisting the European Champion Clubs' Cup? Not really.
Enter Nikolai Prokhorkin and the L.A. Kings.
Some of you don't follow the Kings pipeline are probably asking "who the heck is Nikolai Prokhorkin?"
Prokhorkin is one of the Kings more talented prospects currently playing for CSKA Moscow in the KHL. He was drafted back in 2012 in the 4th round and hails from the city of Chelyabinsk, 1,100 miles East of Moscow and only about 90 miles north of the border of Kazakhstan. It's the same city that has produced NHL players Sergei Gonchar, Valeri Nichushkin, and current King defenseman Slava Voynov.
Having developed in the minor leagues of the KHL under the property of CSKA Moscow, the highly skilled forward was signed to an ELC with the Los Angeles Kings back in September of 2012 having believed his commitment with Moscow was complete. However, a contract misunderstanding surrounded Prokhorkin and he was only able to play 8 games with the Monarchs before having to return to the KHL where he was apparently signed until 2015. Be it by a mistake on Prokhorkin's part, or just a flat misunderstanding by the NHLPA/NHL/Player agent, Prokhorkin somewhat begrudgingly returned and the contract was deemed legal and fair.
The KHL subsequently commended the NHL and the NHLPA for upholding the legality of the contract.
So for the last year and a half we've heard about how Prokhorkin is biding his time in the KHL, still wanting to play in North America, and just waiting for the contract to expire.
Until now.
It was speculated earlier that Prokhorkin could potentially leave Moscow a year early, but he is now talking of extending with CSKA for three more years.
Money troubles have always been synonymous with the KHL, and it was speculated that Moscow was entering a tough period financially and would have to part with some players to stay in the black. With Prokhorkin coming up for extension it seemed only natural that the time to leave was now and that Moscow would allow him to do so. After all, a staggering three teams have gone under in the KHL and will not compete in 2014-15 season (Donetsk, Lev Praha,
Spartak Moscow. Khimik Voskresensk also went bankrupt in 2009, financially struggling Dynamo Moscow had to merge with HC MVD in 2009-10 to stay afloat, and even
CSKA was saved from financial hardships by Russian oil giant Resneft in 2011.
The team was also given a loan of $22 million dollars from Resneft (partly owned by the Russian government) to continue its pursuit for players in January of 2013. It's not out of the question that financial problems could cause the team to let go of him.
Recently we have been seeing Russian players head to the NHL instead of vice versa, ala two years ago. Leo Komarov of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Jori Lehtera of the St. Louis Blues are just two of the more recent players to head back over after stints in the KHL. However, after an incredibly successful season for Prokhorkin where he was an integral part of CSKA Moskva's team and their leading scorer, he seems dead set on staying.
That's quite a flip-flop from previous statements that he was as good as gone.
From a translation on
Allsportsinfo.ru
21-year-old CSKA Moscow striker Nicholas Prohorkin decided to terminate the contract with the army club. He will continue his career in the "Los Angeles Kings" (USA, NHL). This was a special correspondent of the Agency of sport information "All Sport" Dinara Kafiskinoy said agent Andrew Nicholas Prohorkina Mukhachyov. "Nikolai wanted to stay to play for CSKA, but he requested to improve the financial conditions of the contract and extend it, - said Andrey agent Prohorkina Mukhachyov.
Just almost two months later, the tune is a bit different. Here is a translated excerpt from
an article on Rsport where Prokhorkin said the following:
While everyone in the process, negotiate, but the chances are quite high that I would stay at CSKA - Prohorkin told reporters. - I would like to sign a new three-year contract. As the situation evolved? We asked for higher wages, but first there was no comments from club. So we decided not to waste a year, and go to "Los Angeles" to grow roots in the team there. Already we CSKA understand each other. "
Talk about a 180 degree turn.
You could say a couple of things about this. Perhaps he is using the KHL and Moscow as leverage to get the Kings to improve their offer. Maybe he is using the Kings apparent offer to get CSKA Moscow to improve their extension offer. Either way, Prokhorkin and his agent are definitely playing a leverage card. After all, the 20-year old forward is still under contract until 2015 and agents do work on a percentage. This all could be posturing and negotiating tactics. What he is doing though is putting both teams and his status with them in a state of limbo. No management likes to have their head held under the water by a player, and that is what Prokhorkin is doing with CSKA Moscow. Is that fair to them? No, not really. He is also holding the Kings at bay at cashing in on their exciting investment. Is that fair? No, not really. But that is what is happening.
Maybe the truth is that Prokhorkin himself does not know what he wants at this point. The KHL, as much improvement as it has made over the last several years, is not a threat to the NHL. It's not fair to even compare it to the NHL. The only time it IS a perceived threat to the NHL is when situations like this arise. Honestly, this has more to do with the player than the league itself. You can't even begin to blame the KHL for any of this. Prokhorkin is 20, he's talented, he's playing for one of the biggest teams in the KHL, and he is playing extremely well. If he wanted he could probably stay in Russia live very well, make plenty of money, play hockey and be immersed in his natural culture, lifestyle, etc. etc. Then you have the NHL path, where he would have to uproot, come to a very foreign country, and play for an organization where there is no guarantee of financial success, stability, or accolades. It is the one thing people don't think about when it comes to calling out the "Enigmatic Russians". Put yourself in the situation of Nikolai Prokhorkin. Making good money in your home country, playing the sport you love, close to the ones you love. Giving that sort of thing up is never easy. If he does give it up in an attempt to come to North America and play for the Kings then good for him. If not then I'm sure there will be a fair amount of people who point out his Russian background and some foul play of the KHL, but in reality it will be an understandable decision with the latter subjects being completely irrelevant.
It's a dicey situation and both teams are ultimately just standing by, likely in a state of frustration. The Kings want Prokhorkin, CSKA Moscow wants Prokhorkin. Can you blame them? He is a talented youngster with a ton of potential, coming off a fantastic year. Unfortunately the teams are the ones that are put at bay by this, but that's Prokhorkin's right as a player to do so. Does it hurt or help his chances? Tough to say. I know the Kings wouldn't pass him up if he decided in three months that he wanted to play in North America. However, his future could hang in the balance with the team if he decides to commit to three more years overseas. Big decisions are on the horizon for the 20-year old and his agent.
This saga has taken a few twists and turns and I venture it will take a few more in the next year as we get closer to the end of the young man from Chelyabinsk's contract.
Regardless of the outcome, it's just another cobblestone in an awkward wall built between North American hockey and the Russian federation. One that actually has very little to do with the two giants, and more to do with a young kid who doesn't know which way he wants to go in the future. Unfortunately the cultural disconnect between Russia and North America will always make simple situations far more tense than they need to be.
In regards to Prokhorkin, time will tell where he ends up.
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