Despite the gradually lowering salary cap in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and the ruble's devaluation, the KHL's Russian clubs say they are not losing their foreign players. "There are four foreign players on Avangard's squad list," Vladimir Shalayev, president of HC Avangard Omsk, Eastern Conference semi-finalist in the 2014/2015 season, told SBD Global. "And the limit is five. We haven't yet used up the limit before the new season, but not because of the ruble's devaluation, but because it is difficult to find a player of sufficient quality in the market, including Europe."
FINDING REPLACEMENTS: Although some veteran players left the KHL after the '14-15 season, most squads signed new ones to replace them. In the '15-16 season, the salary cap will be 1,050M rubles ($14.8M), to be reduced to 950M rubles ($13.5M) in the '16-17 season and to 900M rubles ($12.7M) in '17-18. A spokesman for Salavat Yulayev Ufa said that the number of foreign players on the squad increased and reached the limit as the club's financial situation is stable. "The new sponsor, Bashneft, has approved the same budget figure, as it was with the previous sponsor, Ural," he said. A Metallurg Novokuznetsk spokesperson said, "We have one foreign player fewer than last season. But that has to do exclusively with the fact that Kristián Kudroč's contract was terminated due to his family situation." He added, "The club's funding remains stable thanks to the general sponsor, Evraz-ZSMK."
MAINTAINING STATUS QUO: Spokesmen for Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod, Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Vityaz also confirmed to SBD Global that the number of foreign players on their squad list remains the same as last season. Still, as the regular season kicked off on Monday, the Russian ruble reached an all-time low against the U.S. dollar, trading at 70.85 rubles for one U.S. dollar. Foreign players' salaries are negotiated in U.S. dollars or Euros, and the salary cap is in rubles.
Vladimir Kozlov is a writer in Moscow.
