hockey's business and legal

Hockey’s Business and Legal Headlines March 25-31 with Ivan Fedotov’s NHL Appearance

Alec Roberson

It’s that time again when we take a look at what’s been happening in hockey’s business and legal world. Once a week we cover the big and not so big stories in this arena. We also include a featured story of the period. Let’s take a look at what has been happening this period.

Hockey’s Business and Legal News

Two ECHL Teams Facing Financial Uncertainty

Two teams in the ECHL are facing tough financial times and may conclude operations as early as this season. The Newfoundland Growlers and Trois-Rivières Lions are both majority owned by Deacon Sports and Entertainment which is facing bankruptcy and owed the city of Trois-Rivières over $600k. It sounds like they have paid most of that debt.

However, the ECHL set a deadline of April 2 for both teams to be sold. But due to the complexities of buying and selling teams and finding an interested party, it is unlikely to occur. The league will assume ownership if a sale is not concluded and decide whether to allow them to continue this season. However, reports are showing that Newfoundland is unlikely to continue and any of their players solely on ECHL contracts will become free agents.

Foreign Property Buyers with More Options in Canada

A law in Canada that prevented foreigners from purchasing residential property in the country has been amended. Previously, Canada had a law passed in 2022 that prevented non-residents from purchasing property to attempt to help alleviate rising housing costs. There were a few restricted classes of individuals who could circumvent this law but most were restricted. This made it challenging for NHL players who may play for a Canadian NHL team.

But the amendment, effective as of March 25, now allows work-permit holders with 183 days or more remaining on those permits who haven’t purchased other residential properties in the country to purchase residential property or vacant land zoned for residential property. This was a concern expressed at the recent NHL GMs meeting.

KHL Increases Season Length

The KHL decided to increase its season length from April 30 to May 31 starting next season. Given the current state of NHL-KHL relationships and the lack of any transfer agreement, this means that it could be about a month later before various KHL players can make their way to the NHL should they desire to. Desire to and are able to since their contract would need to be terminated in most cases.

Registry of Adults Sanctioned for Abuse in Sports Made Public in Canada

Canada’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) made their registry of adults sanctioned for abuse in amateur sports public. While the OSIC mostly investigates abuse in international sports, Hockey Canada currently doesn’t have any sort of registry public. In last period’s hockey’s business and legal updates, we discussed USA Hockey pushing to limit the US Center for SafeSport’s jurisdiction over abuse investigations. Like Hockey Canada, USA Hockey does not have a public registry. As abuse continues to be an issue in hockey, making these lists public could provide some transparency.

Hockey’s Business and Legal Featured Story: Ivan Fedotov Comes to the NHL

In this period’s hockey’s business and legal updates featured story, we (seemingly) wrap up the longstanding saga of Ivan Fedotov. While we have followed this in multiple previous hockey’s business and legal updates articles, Fedotov has finally arrived in the NHL. For a brief overview, the Philadelphia Flyers previously drafted Fedotov and signed him but he had to return to Russia to serve one year of military service. The Flyers believed his contract would slide a year, but Fedotov signed with a KHL team.

The issue went over who’s contract was valid went all the way to the IIHF. After the IIHF decided the Flyers were right, Fedotov and CSKA Moscow ignored the ruling and he continued to play in the KHL. Even in light of the IIHF imposed sanctions. But then last week CSKA Moscow terminated his contract with a year left, and he made his way to the NHL. The reasoning behind the termination is not entirely clear. But as of now, this story has seemingly come to an end. But it is an important precedent for NHL teams negotiating the uncertainty of players in the KHL. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the IIHF has to say on the situation.

Post image attribution: Governor Tom Wolf from Harrisburg, PA, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Alec Roberson

Alec Roberson grew up in coastal North Carolina, taking a somewhat unconventional path to hockey. With hockey being almost nonexistent in that area, Alec found his passion for the game following the success of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2001 and 2006 and later played club hockey in college. After going through law school and practicing for some time, he now continues his love for the game through writing. Find him on twitter @roberson_alec

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