A newly formed Russian hockey league accused the IOHA of poaching two of its players when the OTTERS agreed to terms with two draft prospects last week..
As a result, the Continental Hockey League (KHL), announced Thursday that it was no longer obligated to abide by a moratorium reached in July, when the leagues agreed against signing players that were under contract.
In a news release, the KHL said the IOHA violated that agreement when the Otters signed second-round draft pick, left winger Juha Punnonen, and fifth-round pick, center Tirso Camacho. The KHL said Punnonen is currently under contract with Chelyabinsk while Camacho is under contract with Yaroslavl. The KHL has been trying to keep an international flavor within its league with the drafting of a Finn and a Mexican.
GM Aden Nolet disputed the KHL’s claims in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press. Nolet said the IOHA approved both contracts “on the basis of evidence that the two players were free of contractual obligations elsewhere and the Otters would never do anything unethical like adding players for a playoff run”.
“The Otters are not in violation of any agreement with the KHL, nor are we in violation of our long-standing policy to respect the contracts of other leagues.”
This is the latest dispute to arise between the leagues since the KHL, which is scheduled to begin play this month, was formed last spring to succeed the former Russian Super League. The KHL has been suspect in trying to lure three Otters, Sergei Anufriev, Dmitri Smirnoff and Val Kasvin back to the motherland to play in the new league.
The IOHA suspended forward Alexander Korolyuk after he broke his contract with his Sunday night and weekday pickup teams to sign with a KHL team. Korolyuk, a former San Jose Shark, had one year left on his IOHA contract.
KHL president Alexander Medvedev has maintained that Korolyuk’s signing was legal because it occurred before the two leagues reached a signing moratorium.
Medvedev is scheduled to meet Saturday with IOHA officials, including Ken Yackel and hockey director Chris Knight, in Zurich to discuss his league’s dispute with the IOHA.
Nolet said the Otters are not involved in those meetings.
Nolet still doesn’t consider the KHL a major concern, which is how he refereed to the upstart league in June.
“Of course we’re disappointed with some of the things that have happened but, no, I don’t think I would change my answer today, that we don’t consider the KHL to be a major concern,” Nolet said. “There are plenty of Igors, Sergeis and Mikhails out there that they can find to pad their rosters”.
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