Evgeny Kuznetsov: Rocking the Red …or the Red Army?

September 26, 2013 4:55 pm

Photo credit: Sovetsky Sport

September 27th Update: Puck Daddy’s Dmitry Chesnokov reports that Evgeny Kuznetsov will not be conscripted into the Russian army (via a source close to Kuzya).

I will not write any more stories about when Kuznetsov is coming to Washington…

Just when we decided that Evgeny Kuznetsov’s days in the KHL are numbered, his local draft board has mucked up the works.

Quick recap: come next season or sooner if Traktor’s postseason ends early, Kuznestov will join the Caps– unless a gazillion-ruble, long-term deal is foisted on him (unlikely in the KHL). RMNB no longer needed to relay the latest quotes from Kuzya or his agent or his team or KHL officials, because the matter was all but settled.

Enter Alexander Bochkarev, head of Chelyabinsk regional Voenkomat (military commissariat), basically the equivalent of a local draft board in the US.

Here’s Bochkarev, as reported by championat.com:

“I believe Egeny Kuznetsov may continue to play for Traktor and defend the honor of the country while simultaneously serving in the Russian army, – said Bochkarev. We can also conscript the young guys who left Russia. For example, Valery Nichushkin, Evgeny Malkin. [Editor’s note: Nichushkin is a native of Chelyabinsk, Malkin is from Magnitogorsk; both cities are under Chelyabinsk regional commissariat jurisdiction.] They don’t necessarily have to play for CSKA or SKA. [Editor’s note: Both clubs are historically associated with Soviet military.] Sporting companies existed in the Soviet Army and were later abandoned. In 2012 Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu proposed to reintroduce them, and Russian President and Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin signed the decree. But we are not the ones who make the final decision.”

Taking this new development somewhat seriously, Sovetsky Sport reached out to Kuznetsov’s agent Valery Gushchin. “A notice from the voenkomat? This is the first time I hear about it. So far he has not received anything. All I know is he recently graduated from college.”

Russia does have universal and mandatory military service obligation for men aged 18 to 27; the length of the service is 12 months. Numerous provisions exist for deferrals, such as for parents of two or more young children, college students, or for health reasons. Exceptions facilitated by transfers of large sums of money (bribes) are also pretty popular too.

Leaving home to play hockey in another country technically isn’t sufficient to dodge conscription, though it has worked that way in the past.

A decision to start enforcing the military service obligation for top-level athletes would surely not be made at the regional level– as evidenced by Bochkarev’s transparent disclaimer: “We are not the ones who make the final decision.”

So will Moscow make the call? Will they — would they — force Kuznetsov to delay his NHL career another 12 months?