Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov thinks some Russian players may not return to the National Hockey League when the lockout finally ends.
Bryzgalov, who is playing with CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League, made comments to a Russian interviewer about the NHL's current labour situation.
"(NHL) owners...they create this situation and they put themselves into this situation," explained Bryzgalov. "Like I said before, they have to take responsibility for their own actions.
"If you watch what they did consistently, like saying: 'It's going to be (a) lockout. We're not happy with the system, we can't operate with the system that we had'...and (yet) they continued to sign the players during the negotiation process, signing the players to long-term contracts for big amounts."
The 32-year-old netminder is a nine-year NHL veteran who has played for Anaheim, Phoenix, and Philadelphia. Though he did not refer to himself specifically, he discussed the allure of the KHL to Russian-born players.
"I think some of the players may not return to the NHL because you have everything here and major companies are going to pay the top players here big money. And, especially for Russians players who can play at home in front of their own fans and families and [earn] even bigger money than they have in the National Hockey League," said Bryzgalov.
"The KHL can't feed all the players, but for some big players - especially those with Russian passports - it might be a threat."
