Any reason why Johansson is signing with Byrnas rather than Färjestads? Simply to play with Backstrom? I know he still practices with Färjestads in the off season and was on the ice with them up until a couple weeks ago when he came back to DC.
Any reason why Johansson is signing with Byrnas rather than Färjestads? Simply to play with Backstrom? I know he still practices with Färjestads in the off season and was on the ice with them up until a couple weeks ago when he came back to DC.
Though it was funny because some guys were impatient and signed in Swe-2.
They weren't "impatient". Hockey Allsvenskan was their first choice.
Berglund signed with the HA club he played in before playing in the NHL. Kopitar chose the Allsvenskan club in which his brother is playing.
The Swedish players seem to be very loyal to their home clubs, and those players who came from SEL clubs are waiting, with various degrees of patience, to see if they can return to those clubs.
Also, note that unlike NHL players who sign for substantial pay in the KHL, Swedes who sign with their home clubs (or anywhere in Sweden) will most probably have to play for free and also pay at least some of the cost of the expensive insurance on their contract (unless the club can find a sponsor to pay for it like Berglund's club did for him). There are also tax consequences for the player.
Any Swedish NHL player with a large, multi-year contract like Backstrom's will likely have to pay (insurance and taxes) for the privilege of playing with his home club. Thus they will lose even more money in addition to the NHL paychecks lost during the lockout.
Why would the Swedes have to play for free? None of their clubs are willing to pay a salary?
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George McPhee....The Teflon GM. 15 years of failure and counting....
6 - Number of playoff series the Capitals have won since George McPhee took over as General Manager in 1997 (which makes him the third-longest-tenured GM in the League), three of which came in McPhee's first season on the job.
Insurance costs are so high that they're going to basically be playing for free when it comes to it. SEL teams can't afford the salaries KHL teams will pay.
It's interesting that at this point Semin is the only high profile Russian NHL forward without a KHL contract, especially after having a good World Championship.
It's interesting that at this point Semin is the only high profile Russian NHL forward without a KHL contract, especially after having a good World Championship.
Especially after 95% of the users on HF predicted him to go to Russia this offseason.
