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The KHL—Nov 9, 2015 - VOL. 69, Issue 06 - Jared Clinton

AT THE 2013 SPENGLER CUP, the KHL’s CSKA Moscow downed the AHL’s Rochester Americans 4-3 in a round-robin game. CSKA went on to make the final, while the Americans dropped every single game they played by a combined score of 15-6.

On a league-specific scale, the difference between Moscow and Rochester wasn’t much. Both had win percentages bordering on 60 percent in their respective leagues, finished in a playoff positions and were steady on offense and defense. But when it came to a head-to-head, the KHL came out on top. And that’s the thing: play that 2013 contest 10 times and the result won’t change. The KHL is the world’s second-best league, and there’s really no question.

From a pure talent standpoint, only the NHL beats what the KHL can offer. Bona fide superstar Ilya Kovalchuk is the biggest name in the KHL, but the league also plays host to a number of former NHLers, including Alexander Radulov, Nigel Dawes, Matt Gilroy and Cam Barker. While it’s not top-tier NHL talent, all four are players whose game would be wasted in the AHL. It’s for that very reason players head to the KHL instead of toiling in North America’s minor league system.

Putting together an all-star team of KHLers since the league’s inaugural season in 2008 shows how immensely talented some of these players are. Of course, Kovalchuk and Radulov would be on the list, but so would Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Yashin, Oleg Saprykin, the game has benefitted in a big way. In the AHL, teams must sometimes play the way the big club wishes, teaching system over skill. Not so in the KHL, where each team plays to its strengths and produces a style to fit the talent on its roster. That makes for more exciting hockey and a league-wide product that isn’t a copy of the league above it with less-talented players.

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That’s also true of team improvement. In the KHL, one off-season can change a team’s fate, whereas AHL teams are at the behest of their NHL affiliates. Fans of struggling AHL clubs have to rely on the NHL team to stock the farm. Not so in the KHL, where GMs can go out and improve with creativity, scouting and financial resources.

Even the league’s import limit doesn’t prove to be a major hindrance when it comes to icing top-level teams, especially because much of the creative play is coming from the Russian players. In the AHL, however, the veteran limit only allows for a maximum of six players with 260-plus pro games to dress on one roster. That means a number of talented vets are out of jobs in the NHL’s minor league. But the AHL’s loss is the KHL’s gain.

Admittedly, the public perception of the league is what hurts the KHL. The threat of teams folding, players not receiving payment and security risks have clouded the way people react to the league. But the KHL has faced the same issues as the AHL without the benefit of help from another, more powerful league to feed it talent and money. The financial stability of some of the KHL’s teams has been called into question, but that’s no different from the AHL, which has seen nearly a dozen teams fold or relocate since 2008.

When it comes to making the product accessible, the KHL is miles ahead of the AHL, too. The AHL's production values are often subpar, with live feeds looking closer to something produced in the early days of the internet than today’s high-definition broadcast world. The KHL offers English highlight shows on YouTube for North American fans trying to access the league. Its website also comes in English and Russian. That matters, and the KHL’s efforts in packaging a product that looks like a professional league has made a difference for anyone trying to keep up. The AHL may be able to boast it has some future stars among its ranks, but the KHL could trot out a number of teams that could compete in the NHL today. And, most of all, that’s what makes the KHL the second-best league in the world. It isn’t striving to be the second-best. The KHL is shooting for No. 1.

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THN Archive: The KHL