04/25/24
August 14, 2006
Malkin jumping over to Pens?: MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia's Metallurg Magnitogorsk will go to court to seek compensation from Pittsburgh Penguins after the sudden disappearance of their best player, Evgeni Malkin, the Superleague club's head said on Sunday.
Shades of Mogilny - minus the whole iron curtain thing. Hopefully this case can clear up some of the transfer issues that my guess is will be the norm from here on out.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:49 PM on August 14, 2006
Weedy: yup. This is going to happen again and again, with greater frequency every year, until the NHL and the Russian League work something out. It's going to ultimately look a lot like the Euro futbol model, I suspect, and it could wind up not being cheap for the NHL. But Malkin will wind up with the Pens. Also, I gotta admit, I totally want a Metallurg Magnitogorsk jersey. Not that the jersey itself is special, but it's the best team name ever.
posted by chicobangs at 03:51 PM on August 14, 2006
For a $2Bn league, $200,000 as a transfer fee for a player of Malkin's ability is a slap in the face to the RSL, and the Russians know it.
posted by garfield at 03:54 PM on August 14, 2006
Thats crazy. Hope it works out for Evgeni... I can see the Russian view-point too, but I seriously doubt they expect him to come back to them now... They are simply playing this up as much as possible to get a big settlement after Malkin is in a Pens uniform...
posted by myshtigo at 05:00 PM on August 14, 2006
Someone will write someone a check, and this problem will be resolved. But transfer fees are going to become a part of life for all teams, not just the ones with big-ticket phenoms. There are enough Euro Leagues that have some cachet that a convention is going to have to be worked out between the NHL and these other leagues (not just the Russian Super League, but the Swedish Elite League, the Czech League, the Finnish Elite League, maybe others. Germany? Italy? Poland? The other Republics? Japan, even?)
posted by chicobangs at 05:18 PM on August 14, 2006
But will transfer fees be negotiated on an individual basis or collectively? Right now, transfers are a flat $200k, but obviously that isn't satisfactory to all involved. Does the flat fee go up, or is there some type of market value associated to the transfer fee? I know the NHL vehemently opposes negotiating tranfers per player, as it will cost the NHL more per player over the long haul. But not providing anywhere close to adequate compensation for players grown in Europe and elsewhere is what is forcing this situation. To be honest, I'm surprised Russia was the only country to not sign on to the IIHF agreement. I would've guessed the other leagues would exploit their relative collective strength while the NHL was down and dormant.
posted by garfield at 06:08 PM on August 14, 2006
Yea, something like $400k + 5 - 10% of players contract would be good for future, just to stop these guys from having to go into hiding just to make it over here.
posted by myshtigo at 10:52 AM on August 15, 2006
Follow up link. "It's a different country than it used to be," Gonchar told the Tribune-Review. "Hopefully, nobody is going to put pressure on his family or himself when he comes back. But at the same time, there's got to be some pressure because otherwise a guy wouldn't sign a deal at 3 a.m. then disappear in a couple days. I was wondering why Malkin would sign a new contract, show up at camp for a few days, and then disappear. Perhaps maybe a Russian version of the Sapranos.
posted by MrFrisby at 05:21 PM on August 16, 2006
Sports terrorism! Some good ol' fashioned Cold War rhetoric. Great for the Pens and the NHL if he does play for Pittsburgh.