The National Hockey League became the latest sports league to take action against Russia. The NHL suspended dealings with the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), which is based out of Russia, on Monday and has told all of its franchises to stop all contact with the KHL and Russia-based agents, according to the Associated Press.
This call from the NHL will make it harder for teams to sign players from the KHL, a league that players traditionally will leave to join the NHL. Many prospects play in Russia after being drafted to an NHL team, rather than playing in a junior team in North America.
However, teams are still able to communicate with North American-based agents that are certified by the NHL Players' Association, so it will not be impossible to sign players from the KHL.
The NHL's decision is the latest to cut ties with Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine.
The league previously stopped its relationship with Russia-based business partners and suspended the NHL's Russian broadcast agreement. The NHL has also put a pause on Russian-language social and digital media sites and announced they are "discontinuing any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions involving the NHL."
