NHL, NHLPA Square Off Over Rights To Unsigned Euro Draft Picks

Former NHLPA Exec Dir Ted Saskin will testify tomorrow for the NHL and against the union in an arbitration hearing concerning the "status of drafted European players who do not sign before June 2 of the second calendar year following their selections," according to Larry Brooks of the N.Y. POST. The NHL's current CBA states that teams "lose their rights to such players if they are not signed on or by that date." The NHL is claiming that the "absence of transfer agreements with European hockey federations renders that portion of the CBA obsolete." The union has filed a grievance challenging that position, and it has also "notified the NHL that it is reserving the right to challenge the league position that the CBA prohibits individual club-negotiated transfer fees" (N.Y. POST, 8/27).

PUT ON THE BRAKES: In Columbus, Tom Reed reported the Blue Jackets have asked LW Nikita Filatov, the club's first-round draft pick this year, to "stop playing exhibition games for the junior club of his former Russian hockey team, CSKA Moscow." It is "believed [Filatov] played in three games." Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson said that Filatov has agreed stop playing the games, but he will "continue to train" with the team. Filatov "is expected to arrive in Columbus on Sept. 10" in time for training camp (DISPATCH.com, 8/24).

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