From Russia with less

The 2007-08 season was a monumental one for Russian-born players in the NHL.

Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin finished first and second, respectively, in points and MVP voting. Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk were 1-2 in goals, while Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings captured a pair of major awards (the Selke and Lady Byng trophies).

Unfortunately, this year is also a historic one for Russians. Because of a growing number of players either returning to their homeland or never leaving, only 41 players born in the former Soviet Union have played in an NHL game this season, according to Elias Sports Bureau - down from 46 last year and less than half the pinnacle of 87 in 2000-01.

When the geographical range is limited to just players born in Russia and not the former Soviet republics, the number shrinks to 27 - an alarmingly low figure considering it is the second-most populous country in the world where hockey is a major sport.

“Now that you mention it, it is surprising,” Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee said. “I think we all know the reasons why.”

One city where Russian hockey players are not vanishing is the District. Caps goaltender Simeon Varlamov became the most recent Russian-born player to play this season when he made his NHL debut Saturday in Montreal.

Of the 27 NHL players from Russia, five are on Washington’s roster.

“We have Russians who have great character - great guys,” Ovechkin said. “That is why they are here.”

Added Viktor Kozlov: “It is good for us, so five Russian guys is nice. As long as the team is winning and doing good, it doesn’t matter how many players are from each country. As long as team is winning, it is not Russians, Slovaks, Czechs and Swedes - it is Washington Capitals.”

On the surface it appears the pipeline of hockey talent from Russia to North America has never been more prosperous. There are more elite players from that country in the league than ever before. Ovechkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Malkin and the Atlanta Thrashers’ Kovalchuk are among the game’s most dynamic and popular players.

The Penguins’ Sergei Gonchar (who will be the 28th Russian to play this season if he returns from a separated shoulder), the Montreal Canadiens’ Andrei Markov and the Dallas Stars’ Sergei Zubov are three of the top defensemen in the league. San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov finished a close second in the Vezina Trophy voting last season, and the Chicago Blackhawks’ Nikolai Khabibulin has returned to the upper echelon of netminders this year.

But the total number of players is closing in on lows not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union. There are incredible talents, but midlevel talents are disappearing, and Russian role players are almost nonexistent.

“I think you will see fewer marginal Russian players,” McPhee said. “The real good ones will be here, but the marginal guys won’t be. They can play at home, and maybe it is better for them. Who knows? I don’t think NHL teams want to take that risk anymore.”

There are several contributing factors to the decline. One problem is the eroded relations between the NHL and the Russian hockey federation. When the NHL tried to ratify a player transfer agreement through the International Ice Hockey Federation, the Russian federation balked.

With no financial agreement in place, NHL teams are left to worry about drafting Russian players and ending up with no return - a theme that has affected the past two drafts.

Alexei Cherepanov was expected to be a top-five pick in 2007 but fell to No. 17 because of concerns over when or if he would come to North America. Other top talents have fallen even further into later rounds of the draft or not been selected at all.

“The guy who would have been a first-round pick but slid down to the second or third round with less money to look forward - these are the guys who might think about taking the easy life,” said Slava Malamud, a Russian journalist who works for Sport-Express. “Two million dollars in the NHL and $2 million in Russia are two completely different sums of money. The season is shorter, so you have to work less for it, and the taxes are much less.”

The newest obstacle for the NHL is the Kontinental Hockey League, a revamped version of the former Russian Super League. Boasting owners with deep pockets fueled by a then-bustling Russian economy, teams in the KHL made overtures to many NHL players this past offseason.

Other Russian-born players already had returned to their roots in the old RSL - aging players like Alexei Yashin and Darius Kasparaitis, as well as players who didn’t like their playing time or the style of hockey here.

Most of these players would not be expected to be core contributors to NHL teams.

“The guys the NHL are losing right now like [Boston draft pick] Sergei Zinovjev or [former Pittsburgh forward] Alexei Morozov, you could shake a tree in Saskatchewan and have a couple Morozovs fall out,” Malamud said. “Do they need to go hard after third-liners or sixth defensemen?

The KHL’s biggest coup among Russian-born players has been Alexander Radulov. A first-round pick in 2004, Radulov was Nashville’s top young forward, a potentially dynamic scorer who netted 26 goals as a 22-year-old sophomore in the NHL.

Despite being under contract with the Predators, Radulov signed a deal with Ufa, one of the KHL teams steeped in oil money, and is playing in Russia this season while the battle for his rights plays out in court.

NHL teams devote millions of dollars to scouting, drafting and developing players, and now every team is fearful of devoting a draft pick and/or money to a player who will never play for them.

“There’s some real concern there for NHL clubs,” McPhee said. “If you draft a guy, is he signable? Is he ever going to come? Even if you do sign him, is he going to show up? That’s something managers have to think hard about at the draft.”

What the future holds for Russians in the NHL is tied to several things. Improved relations between the NHL and Russian hockey’s governing body would be a boon, but there could be more situations like the one Radulov is in should no agreement be reached.

The health of the Russian economy also could play a large role. The global financial crisis - specifically the huge dip in oil prices - is pinching KHL owners.

“The NHL is a gate-driven league, while the KHL is an owner-driven league,” Malamud said. “How much each owner is willing to spend on his team is his own loss - that is what makes the team. Those owners are feeling the heat of the financial crisis and are reworking their budgets.”

There also could be more done to improve the NHL’s presence in Russia. Currently, NHL games are only on late-night cable TV and not accessible to everyone in the country. While the NHL has staged exhibition and regular-season games in Europe, contests in Russia are a possibility but not imminent.

Meanwhile, the Caps will continue to operate with less caution about Russian players than other teams. Much of that can be credited to Ovechkin, whose presence the team feels is a great marketing tool for Russia’s youth.

“I can’t speak for other teams, and I don’t know if that is the case for other teams,” McPhee said. “We’ll take 10 Russians here if they can make us a better team. We’ve always said we don’t care where the players come from. As long as they are quality people and good players, they can play here.”