Ryan Strome traded (don’t worry…his KHL rights)

The KHL rights to New York Rangers center Ryan Strome were just traded

Sorry about that folks.  Didn’t mean to worry anybody.  Here’s a little known fact.  For eight years, from 2009 to 2016, the KHL actually conducted a junior draft and selected hockey players from around the world (and outside of Russia) just like the NHL.   27 Canadian players were drafted by KHL teams and that’s where the New York Rangers’ Ryan Strome comes in.

In a curious deal, Strome’s rights were traded from Amur, the team that drafted him, to Lokomotiv in exchange for Alexander Polunin, a 23-year old winger.  The deal would have gone unnoticed except for a mention on the Pro Hockey Rumors website.

In 2011, Amur Khabarovsk drafted Strome in the fifth round of the draft,  111th overall. He was one of six Canadian players drafted including Jonathan Huberdeau, Matt Dumba and Sean Couturier.  He’s one of two non-Russians currently on the Rangers whose rights are owned by a KHL team.  In 2010,  Lokomotiv Yaroslavl drafted Mika Zibanejad.

Other players in the Rangers pipeline whose rights are owned by KHL teams include Lias Andersson, drafted by Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2016 and Tarmo Reunanen, drafted by Jokerit in 2015.

Should we care?

For now, not at all.  When there was a chance of a lockout in 2020 there was a flurry of KHL transactions as teams positioned themselves to own the rights to NHL stars.  In the 2012-13 lockout that caused the NHL to miss half of the season, many players went to Russia to play.

With the new agreement between the NHLPA and the NHL that extends the current deal through the 2025=26 season, there’s virtually no chance that any of these players will go to the KHL.  That makes the Strome transaction even more curious.

Here’s the translation of the tweet:  ” Amur and Lokomotiv made an exchange, as a result of which Alexander Polunin was sent to Khabarovsk, and the railroad workers received the rights to Ryan Strohm (sic), drafted by the Far East in 2011. ”

This season, both KHL teams didn’t qualify for the KHL playoffs that were ultimately cancelled due to the pandemic.  Could the Lokomotiv club be gambling that  Strome won’t be able to come to an agreement on a new contract with the Rangers and will want the leverage of playing in Russia?   Farfetched, but possible.

There’s no indication that Strome is going anywhere and as a Restricted Free Agent with arbitration rights, we’ll have to wait until after the season for the next chapter in this story.