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Calgary4LIfe · 03-28-2024, 10:59 AM

I guess there are two types of "Russian Factor", and I do believe one type will continue to be a thing.

For instance, the Flames drafted Rushan Rafikov, and he was looking like a really good prospect. Never showed interest in coming over, and didn't even bother to attend a single camp. More famously, Kovalchuk wanted to play in Russia for a while. Datsyuk retired from the NHL in part because he wanted to finish his career in Russia. There will be players who prefer to play in their homeland. I would think that the Russian scouts or other people in the organization will have a better handle on who does and who doesn't want to play in the NHL in the future. Rafikov seemed genuinely happy to be drafted though, so maybe this part will continue to be a bit of a crapshoot.

However, what has been famously labelled as the Russian Factor back then was Russian players leveraging their NHL teams with the KHL in order to get bigger contracts. I do agree that this has mostly gone by the wayside. I can't remember the last player to have a contract dispute and go to the KHL. Radulov? It seems they either want to specifically play in their homeland for the entirety of their careers, or perhaps for the tail end of their careers, or they just want to play in the NHL and stay here. I wouldn't be scared of drafting Russians in the future, but you do have to gauge their interest in coming over.

Having a few Russians around the team will certainly make it more conducive to attracting more Russians to play here, as well as being helping them get settled here (especially if there is a language barrier).

03-28-2024, 10:59 AM	#35
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	I guess there are two types of "Russian Factor", and I do believe one type will continue to be a thing. For instance, the Flames drafted Rushan Rafikov, and he was looking like a really good prospect. Never showed interest in coming over, and didn't even bother to attend a single camp. More famously, Kovalchuk wanted to play in Russia for a while. Datsyuk retired from the NHL in part because he wanted to finish his career in Russia. There will be players who prefer to play in their homeland. I would think that the Russian scouts or other people in the organization will have a better handle on who does and who doesn't want to play in the NHL in the future. Rafikov seemed genuinely happy to be drafted though, so maybe this part will continue to be a bit of a crapshoot. However, what has been famously labelled as the Russian Factor back then was Russian players leveraging their NHL teams with the KHL in order to get bigger contracts. I do agree that this has mostly gone by the wayside. I can't remember the last player to have a contract dispute and go to the KHL. Radulov? It seems they either want to specifically play in their homeland for the entirety of their careers, or perhaps for the tail end of their careers, or they just want to play in the NHL and stay here. I wouldn't be scared of drafting Russians in the future, but you do have to gauge their interest in coming over. Having a few Russians around the team will certainly make it more conducive to attracting more Russians to play here, as well as being helping them get settled here (especially if there is a language barrier).