All About the Benjamins: Why NHL Players Are Choosing the KHL

This offseason we have watched as several NHL players have chosen to continue their career with the KHL, shunning the NHL in the process. At the top of the heap, former San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov signed a four-year, $24 million deal with SKA St. Petersburg, followed by former Atlanta Thrashers forward Maxim Afinogenov, who signed a five-year contract with SKA just yesterday. For many Russian players, heading back home to play is as much about convenience as it is about the money. That said, given the choice to make the same money, I suspect every one of them would rather be in the NHL—fact is, most of them are not worth it! While the skill level in the KHL is getting better, the league is nowhere near what the NHL is. SKA St. Petersburg, widely believed to be the deepest team in the KHL, features a lineup that includes several former NHL players, including Alexei Yashin, Sergei Zubov, Sergei Brylin, and Petr Cajanek, to name a few—would that lineup scare any NHL teams...