The REAL Story Behind Jiri Hudler and the KHL

There has been a lot of confusion as to what’s been going on with Jiri Hudler, the Detroit Red Wings and the KHL. Just to give a little background: Hudler is a 24 year old center for the Red Wings who put up 23 goals in his 3rd FULL NHL season last year. Hudler made $2,250,000 in REAL salary for the 2008-09 season (cap hit was only $1,015,000). How many guys, who weren’t 1st round picks, can claim that they made more than $2 million in a year before their entry level contract expired? Sure, he has a world of potential—but his contract has been in line with his play on the ice. It’s not like anyone has been screwed here.

Here are his career stats. Know them, love them, memorize them. There will be a test:

So there’s the rundown of the past. Now let’s get into the present. There were reports that Hudler was offered a 1 year deal for $2 million to play in the KHL next season. As he was signing the contract to go to Russia, he was simultaneously taking the Red Wings to arbitration in regards to his next NHL contract. While going to Russia, he said that he’d probably come back to the NHL at some point in time (hence the reason for taking the Wings to arbitration).

So as all of this played out yesterday, Red Wings GM Ken Holland had an interesting quote that completely screwed me up. It had been reported that Holland said Hudler would have to take less money to stay in the NHL. Here’s his explanation of the situation:

“The dollars are dramatically higher than what we’re able to do in a cap world. I made what I felt was a very fair offer.”

So as of yesterday, we were left to believe that there was a $2 million offer on the table from Moscow Dynamo (albeit tax free) and the Red Wings were saying that it was impossible to make it happen in a tax world. I know that the Red Wings get their fair share of “hometown discounts,” but I couldn’t figure out the reality that Ken Holland was living in. That was when we put our Russian VFMS correspondents on the job. As always, they didn’t disappoint.

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I thought this was just a simple case of a hockey player trying to do anything he could in his negotiations for a new contract. We all know that restricted free agents in the NHL have very few options—so it looked like Jiri Hudler was just creating a little leverage while he worked out a new deal with Holland and the Red Wings. Oh, if it were only that easy.

It all started when the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup last season. Like all other players, he brought the Cup back to his native homeland—in this case the Czech Republic. Everyone should have known that something was up when the Detroit to Prague flight was redirected to Bratislava in Slovakia. Upon arrival, the pilots told Hudler, “Czech Republic… Slovakia… whatever. Same thing.” The pilot was American with a public education, so no one could expect him to know the difference between those Eastern European countries. It wasn’t the first time it had happened—and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

With no recourse and no real choice in the matter, Hudler deboarded the plane, only to find a familiar (yet long since forgotten) face. Very quickly, the talented Czech center realized he’d been set up by the seemingly ignorant pilot. Walking towards him was a guy that looked strangely like John Malkovich—but wasn’t. Apparently, the man called Teddy KGB is a real person. He was even muttering “Czech, Czech, Czech” under his breath as he approached.

He strolled across the tarmac to meet Jiri face to face in front of the plane. It looked like one of those scenes from a movie—where the mobster meets with someone getting on a plane at an airport like they’re making a “transaction.” But this was far from a transaction. No, this was much more of a one-way conversation. Teddy KGB was doing the talking; Jiri (while holding the Stanley Cup) was doing the listening.

“The Detroit Red Wings are a very important team in Mother Russia. They helped the world see how great our players could be—not only in the Olympics, but in the best league in the world. The Russian Five showed everyone that our best players could win in not only international events, but playing North American hockey as well.”

“The problem is that they only have ONE Russian player left on their team. Ken Holland has disrespected our players, our country and our way of life. He only keeps Pavel Datsyuk around because he keeps winning awards and it reminds everyone that they are the best drafting team in the NHL. A 6th round pick does not show the world our dominance.”

“I’m going to make you an offer that you can’t refuse Jiri. Next season when your contract is up; you will sign a contract with a Russian team in the KHL. I want to get one back for the homies.”

He started to laugh like a crazy man, but no one else really thought it was funny. In fact, it was awkward.

All of the sudden, the smile disappeared from the mad Russian’s face. It was at that time that the bodyguards moved their jacket to the side to reveal semi-automatic weapons. No words had to be exchanged for KGB’s meaning to be crystal clear. Sign with the KHL and no one gets hurt.

Once the message has been delivered, Hudler was free to take his Cup and go home. But throughout last season, there were little signs that the meeting was taking its toll in him. In an exclusive interview, Hudler revealed that he was trying to “play dead” after Mike Brown destroyed him in the playoffs in hopes, “maybe he’d forget that I was good and think I died.” Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t so lucky.

As the frenzy started to swirl around free agency, Teddy KGB reminded Hudler of their little understanding. But this time, he added a little more to the arrangement. He wanted Hudler (a restricted free agent) to hold out and become a problem on the contract front. He told the Czech to string out the process as long as possible. He wanted to make sure that ALL of the Red Wing players signed elsewhere before Jiri dropped the bomb that, he too, would be leaving to play elsewhere. Once Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky and Mikael Samuelsson all signed deals to leave Detroit, it was time for Hudler to complete the exodus.

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It’s this kind of insight that makes us keep some of our correspondents on the payroll. Today there have been more reports coming out about the terms of the contract in Moscow, but no one has the same kind of detailed reporting that we have. It’s come out that the ridiculous 1 year, $2 million contract that was widely reported yesterday was complete garbage.

We have since found out that the actual terms of the contract are 2 years for a total of $10 million—all tax free. When you hear the details of the contract that Hudler signed, it’s a little easier to swallow the “we can’t afford him” line from Ken Holland. That’s a lot of money for a guy that was only a 3rd liner during his break out year. 5 million tax free dollars is roughly equivalent to 8 million after taxes in North America. For those of you not living in Detroit, Jiri Hudler is NOT equal to Nicklas Lidstrom.

Take a look at this. It’s a nice move and it shows that he has good hands. But not $8 million hands.

“Hudler’s agent did not return a call for comment. The Wings have offered Hudler $3 million per season, with his choice of either making it anywhere from a three- to five-year deal.”

So there you have it—Ken Holland’s first foray into the arbitration world was not exactly a success. I guess everyone has holes in their game; it just took us a little longer to find Holland’s weakness. In all honesty though, he was acting from a position of weakness. Deals were made, threats were insinuated and pressure was applied by mobsters in Russia. The Red Wings never stood a chance!

Oh, and there was the whole money thing.

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