Erin Brown

Long before my days here at CBSSports.com, I used to write for a now-defunct web site called the Pro Hockey EuroReport. We covered all aspects of European hockey pertaining to the NHL, and it was from that experience that I developed an interest in the international side of the game.

You can imagine I have enjoyed watching the chaos unfold from recent signings of Jonas Frogren, Nikita Filatov and Alexander Radulov.

One thing this fiasco proves is the NHL takes its European talent for granted.

The league has been neglectful in signing a transfer agreement with international hockey federations (specifically, the Russian Hockey Federation) and equally lazy on its own end, failing to clarify the status of "defected" European. To have any sort of gray area with European players is unacceptable, especially when the NHL relies on talent from overseas to not only expand its market, but keep the talent level from being overly diluted from expansion in the late 90s.

Frogren's situation will probably be solved sooner than later, even if it requires the assistance of an arbitrator. A former draft pick of the Calgary Flames who recently signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Frogren was tagged a defected player -- drafted but unwilling to move to North America -- making him Flames property for eternity. However, the new CBA eliminated the concept of defected players. Teams now retain the rights of Europeans for just two years.

What surprises me about Frogren's situation is the issue centers around his contract instead of his rights. If the NHL views the defenseman as an entry-level player in the light of the old CBA, shouldn't Frogren's rights belong to the Flames?

Case in point: Jiri Dopita. You may remember him as the highly touted Czech who teased a teams with huge contract demands. When Dopita finally came to North America, his NHL career was a bust. The center's rights were transferred twice before he landed in Philadelphia, where the Flyers inked him to a contract worth more than $1 million a year -- a figure well above the entry-level salary.

As for Filatov and Radulov, these players may be remembered as the cause behind the first salvo fired in a not-so-cold war between hockey powers. Remember the gentleman's agreement from Thursday's meeting between the NHL and IIHF? It seems those who were shaking hands did so with crossed fingers behind their back.

Russia's loss of Filatov isn't as big as Radulov's departure from Nashville. The Predators winger gives the Continental Hockey League a talent who is homegrown and up-and-coming, something they've desperately sought to give their league footing. No, Radulov isn't Alexander Ovechkin or Evgeni Malkin. He's the kind of player who was pegged as a future star and possible franchise player in Nashville, though.

I don't believe the Continental Hockey League will run the NHL out of business, but there are reasons Gary Bettman and Co. should be concerned. The NHL is the best league in the world because it does draw the globe's best players. But that talent extends beyond younger superstars like Ovechkin, Malkin, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk or Marian Hossa. It includes second-liners and beyond -- guys like Radulov. The defection of these players will have an affect on the NHL, even if the impact isn't obvious.

The first step in easing the tension is for the NHL to close loopholes involving Europeans. That means inking an agreement with the IIHF and other hockey federations to respect contracts and offering proper compensation to other leagues when signing players. It will cost the NHL some money to keep the talent pipeline flowing to North America.

That shouldn't be a problem given the NHL's post-lockout windfall. It isn't like they're putting profits to lower ticket prices for fans.