The KHL: Legitimate Competition to the NHL?

The KHL keeps signing NHL players and not just Russian players that fail to make the grade in North America. Over the past week – and indeed over this offseason – we have seen plenty of players make the switch to the KHL. The latest players to make the move were former cup winning defenseman Brent Sopel and Russian Ex-Ranger Alexei Kovalev. While it is clear that these two players were no longer in the prime of their careers, both players could have found NHL employment for this coming season. Despite a bad year, Kovalev still came close to 20 goals and no doubt could have helped a talent-less team. As the KHL tries to retain their own talented players such as Alex Radulov (as well as recruit several NHL based players), it cannot be doubted that the overall talent level and depth has improved tremendously since the KHL formed in 2008. The league benefits from players that could still perform in the NHL. From Radulov – a legitimate star in either league – to record ...