NHL draft-eligible Russian players in difficult position

After the International Ice Hockey Federation suspended Russian and Belarusian teams from its competitions until further notice, and revoked Russia's 2023 World Junior Championship hosting rights, the Zone Time crew discuss what the sporting fallout from the war on Ukraine means for Russian playing in the NHL and those hoping to enter the league.

Video Transcript

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Now we have to do the hard transition over into real-world issues with regards to Russia and Ukraine and the invasion that Vladimir Putin is orchestrating in Ukraine. But also, because we're a sports show, we are looking at it through the lens of sports. And in light of the last few days, we have seen, with regards to hockey anyway, Russia essentially being suspended from many international competition until further notice and the country having a couple of the competitions they were supposed to host in 2023 taken away from them.

Well, I think-- I think there may be a decision coming later on the world championships later this year. But that remains to be seen if they'll actually get to hold on to that. And of course, we've seen members of the hockey world speak out on it. Wayne Gretzky, before a decision was even made, was calling for Russia not to be in the World Juniors happening later this summer. Dominik Hasek also voicing his opinion as well. And of course, all eyes on Alexander Ovechkin, who, last I checked, still has-- somehow still has a profile picture with Vladimir Putin in his Instagram post.

Like, I want to start with Ovechkin first because my take on this is that I can understand that Ovechkin is in a precarious position and the fact that he can't say anything too crazy depending on what might happen to his family in Russia. But the profile picture thing with Vladimir Putin is-- that's a choice. That's a bit of a choice, to me. I don't know if I'm wrong on that.

I don't know. Like, [INAUDIBLE] like you're keeping it there. You're not going to be neutral. You're not going to do something else. Like, if you're really not-- I don't know. Just, it's a choice. I think it's a bit peculiar. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. It's-- I just think it's really weird. But I'm also curious what other people think about how Ovechkin kind of handled that presser last week.

SAM CHANG: I think that there's, like, two separate issues here that get conflated. Like, I said-- when the invasion started, I said, you know, we don't-- we haven't talked enough about how much he's publicly supported Putin over the years. And that wasn't, by any means, saying, you know, you should ask him about it now, because obviously he does have family there. And asking him about it is, I think-- asking athletes about it puts them in a difficult position, given where their families are.

But that doesn't mean we can't talk about what he's done over-- over the years, right? Like, he launched Putin Team in 2017. He's--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: He did.

SAM CHANG: There's a significant difference between-- I totally understand when people say, you can't ask them about it now. It puts him in a very difficult position. You know, he's-- it's totally unfair. But there's a significant amount of difference between not speaking up against him and publicly campaigning for him, the way he has over years and years. And that's all on the record, right?

Like, it's not, like, he just kept his head down and said nothing. He has gone above and beyond in kind of flaunting his relationship with Putin, when things were not at this stage. So to me, that's a conversation that is, I think, worth having not because-- you know, you can say, that's not the important thing right now. But we don't talk enough about how much Putin uses sportswashing. And he's been one of the primary sources of that.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Yeah. I think that's all said.

OMAR: Mm-hmm. And I think to that point, like, wasn't the only-- I think the only Russian player who was, like, openly against Putin was Panarin, right? And he--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: It's the most prominent one against him.

OMAR: Yeah. And he went through all-- through all that stuff. I think it was last season. So, yeah, it's-- it is-- it is tough. And again, to Sam's point, like, it's not just, like, a-- a-- a circumstantial thing. It's, like, you know, active campaigns and active supports and so on and so forth. So, I mean, do we-- you know, do you have to be conscious of the situation and the living situation definitely of this family and, you know, old Russian players who have family in Russia right now? Definitely.

But I think that's something that you can't just, I guess, turn a blind eye, you know, and can't just say, like, hey, well, you know, that's-- that's all just because of-- this is all happenstance and circumstantial. So, yeah.

SAM CHANG: And it is-- so it's worth pointing out that as much as Panarin spoke up against him, he spoke in favor of a guy who's actually further to the right. So it's not actually just a good thing.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: OK.

OMAR: [? Context. ?]

JUSTIN CUTHBERT: Yeah, I mean, it's tough, right? Like, I found myself thinking about, like, what happened to 16-year-old or 17-year-old Alexander Ovechkin when he was clearly the best player in his country and a new-ish regime, I guess, was taking power? And they realized what they might have in him and what maybe they could do to exploit the fact that he was the next big star in Russia.

And I guess I'm making something up here on the spot. But I don't think this relationship was fully Alexander Ovechkin's doing. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like he was recruited. And as we said-- we talked about it on the podcast over the weekend, Julian. Like, we just can't understand this reality of, A, being a person in that position but, B, being a person in that position from a country where they are manipulated and exploited and used for political gain.

So it's really hard for me to, like, really tear him down when this is happening because I just don't know what the reality is that he's facing. And I said, you know, is it his choice to have that picture up? I don't know if it's his choice to have that picture up. If he took that picture down--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: That's fair.

JUSTIN CUTHBERT: --that's denouncing his relationship through a tacit, you know, response.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: That's very fair. That's actually a really fair point.

JUSTIN CUTHBERT: It's really difficult. And just because it's there, like, he-- he's damned if he does it or damned if he doesn't, I guess. Like, it's-- it's difficult. And it's really hard to, like, provide, you know, analysis that makes any sense when you just have that-- you don't have that lived experience. So, you know, we like our superstar athletes to be role models, right? And I'm sure he is to many Russians.

But, you know, it's not the same reality for even the people looking up to Ovechkin, depending on what country you're in. So it's-- it's hard. It's hard. And it's going to be difficult, you know, waters for him to navigate and difficult for all Russian athletes who are trying to figure out their best course of action.

Can you stay out of the spotlight, or Putin's spotlight, and get your family safe and then live a free life? Or are you kind of stuck and tethered to where you were just born? And maybe you don't believe anything that's going on in that country, and you're just stuck in that country. So I don't know.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: I think that's-- I know we're a little bit at a loss of words on how to explain everything. But Justin, I'll give you points for that. I think you explained it pretty well. And I know what kind of-- kind of speculated, or not speculated, but at least threw into question the choice of having the profile picture still up.

I think you make a really good point. You're right. If Alexander Ovechkin does take that down, that does bring a lot-- at this point, it brings--

JUSTIN CUTHBERT: Stronger than anything he could say, unfortunately.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: That's actually very true. So I will concede on that point. And we know with the sanctions, as well, affecting Russia and Belarus, I mean, I believe if Russia does participate, if they can't identify under the flag, it has to be pretty much like what the ROC was at the Olympics. I'm also curious about prospects and how that could affect players coming in and the KHL, the future of that as well.

Again, the more we get into it, it's a little bit more small-fry stuff compared to what's going on in the Ukraine. But because we talk about hockey, it's something you have to think about. What does this mean for a guy like Matvei Michkov, who could be drafted the same year as Connor Bedard?

What does that mean for him? What does that mean for Russian players in the league right now, who some are saying that they've received death threats in the last few days? And they're hoping that the National Hockey League or someone can provide some safety for them. This is such a-- this is such a complicated-- this as a complicated situation as we've ever had to discuss on the show.

And I guess just having that perspective-- not having that perspective of living in Europe and having someone like Vladimir Putin as a leader direct to us kind of makes this as complicated a situation to discuss. So, yeah, not really a lot of answers from us. But I have to say, it's just-- we have to acknowledge it, in some way, because it is what-- it is what is happening right now.

It's just-- it's really just mind boggling to me. I don't know if anyone else wants to add anything else before we move on. But it's just a really wild story that I know we-- we're going to have to keep track of and keep track of all the developments that stem from it. And I'm sure there might be more stuff to come, as we continue to follow news stories that come out of Ukraine.

OMAR: Yeah, I mean, I think overall this might be an aspect of-- I don't know, aspect of-- the world or society, however you want to go about it that a lot of people just don't know about. And I think now, with everything that's going on, maybe, you know, people have taken the opportunity to, you know, do some actual research or-- or look into things, ideally. Hopefully, you know, people aren't just, like, going through Twitter and just seeing all that stuff and just, like, liking and retweeting and not actually looking at things that are going on.

But it actually is interesting to think of all the older ramifications of all this stuff. Like, I don't know if anyone saw it before [? recorded. ?] Like, I think, like, CCM announced that they're not going to have any Russian players on any advertisement, including-- including Ovechkin. I think I saw on Saturday there is a question of these-- the CHL import draft, where you do have Russian players who will come over and play in, like, the NHL and the WHL and the [? Q. ?] So it makes you wonder, like, you know, how-- I guess, how far is this going to go?

And, you know, and how much change are we going to see that's going to be permanent and not-- and not just until further notice or, you know, missing this year or that year? Like, are we gonna get-- are we gonna get to a point where a lot of the things that we're seeing actually end up becoming permanent? And-- and I don't really know how to answer that. But I think it's just something that I'm-- I'm kind of thinking about a lot, is just, like, how much of what is happening is-- is going to continue?

And again, obviously, you know, definitely you don't want to you know, talk about obviously the people who are currently fighting right now and, you know, fighting for-- fighting for their freedom. I think that's a, you know, significant thing. But it's-- it's definitely-- it's another side of the coin that us in North America are not privy to and don't need to go through, I think, or haven't had to go through. So it's-- it's an interesting thing, definitely.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Yeah.

JUSTIN CUTHBERT: The point you made on the import draft, like, OK, so that's a Canadian Hockey Federation making a decision that is, you know, rooted in good-- good interests of, you know, the people involved. But who does it hurt in the end? It hurts the 17-year-old prospect who has no role in this but was born in Russia and raised in Russia. You know, like, it's meant to be-- you know, you're doing your part to take from the people that are funding this war.

But in actuality, it's just going to hurt a player that is not really connected to this, or at least we think. You know what I mean? Like, that's why it's tough. That's why it's, like, we don't have the answers.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: No, we don't. Sam, go ahead.

SAM CHANG: I was just going to say as a-- a last point that's kind of unrelated to the draft question, I think at regular zone time, teammate [INAUDIBLE] has rightfully pointed out, you know, we don't-- we don't ask North American players these kinds of questions when-- when the US invades Middle Eastern countries. And it's--

OMAR: Totally.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: We don't.

SAM CHANG: There's an absolute double standard here. And I think we would be remiss to not mention that. And I think if you follow [INAUDIBLE], she's had some very-- very well-articulated thoughts about that.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: I think that's a really good point. There's a whole-- yeah, we definitely are looking at this in a completely different lens than we would with an Israeli-Palestinian conflict or any other conflict that takes place in other parts of the world. That is very well said. And, yeah, it makes sense that [INAUDIBLE] would say that.