Government urges Canadian KHL players to leave Russia and Belarus
1 year ago
On Wednesday morning, the Canadian Federal government warned all Canadian players currently on the Russian and Belorussian teams in the Kontinental Hockey League to get out of those countries.
There are 33 Canadian-born players on 16 different Russian KHL teams, while there are seven different players on the only Belorussian team in the KHL. Out of the 57 players listed at the bottom of the article, 35 are former NHL players. This includes Ryan Spooner, Brendan Leipsic, and Andrew Hammond.
Moreover, there are six players that have played in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, with two making their Leafs debut. The two players who played on the Leafs are Brandon Kozun (Minsk Dynamo), and Brendan Leipsic (Magnitogorsk Metallurg).
The four players who only played for the Toronto Marlies are Joshua Ho-Sang (Ufa Salavat Yulaev), Ryan Sproul (Kunlun Red Star), Tyler Wong (Kunlun Red Star), and Jack Rodewald (Kunlun Red Star).
Taylor Beck, who plays for Novosibirsk Sibir, also was a Leaf on paper. He was traded from the Nashville Predators to the Leafs for Jamie Devane but was traded with prospects to the New York Islanders for Michael Grabner before the start of the 2015 training camp.
It’s widely known that Russia is in the midst of an ongoing war with Ukraine. Once you add on the arrest and detention of Women’s National Basketball Association’s star Brittney Griner, the country is not a safe place for citizens of countries supporting Ukraine.
So what does that mean for the 57 Canadian-born hockey players on KHL teams? If they do heed the call to return to Canada, they’d be leaving the second-best hockey league in the world. A lot of these guys frankly aren’t good enough to make it to the National Hockey League, meaning that they’d probably fill out the American Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League rosters.
They would also have the option to play in other parts of Europe. While not on par with the KHL, both the Liiga in Finland and the Swedish Hockey League in Finland are reputable leagues. There’s also the option of playing in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany or the Czech Extraliga in Czechia, where yes, Jaromir Jagr is still playing.
Below is the list of every Canadian-born player in the KHL. An asterisk denotes an individual who was born in Canada but has a different nationality listed on the KHL’s website. There are also 16 players that play in China that were included, as they’d be traveling to Russia quite frequently.
Canadians on the Belorussian team:
| Name: | Team | Position | Former NHL Player | Former Leafs Player |
| Ryan Spooner | Minsk Dynamo | Forward | Yes | No |
| Brandon Kozun | Minsk Dynamo | Forward | Yes | Yes |
| Shawn Lalonde | Minsk Dynamo | Defender | Yes | No |
| Cedric Paquette | Minsk Dynamo | Forward | Yes | No |
| Nick Merkley | Minsk Dynamo | Forward | Yes | No |
| John Gilmour | Minsk Dynamo | Defense | Yes | No |
| Mark Barberio | Minsk Dynamo | Defense | Yes | No |
Canadians on Russian Teams:
| Name: | Team | Position | Former NHL Player | Former Leafs Player |
| Andrew Calof | Khabarovsk Amur | Forward | No | No |
| Cameron Lee | Khabarovsk Amur | Defense | No | No |
| Andrew Hammond | Chelyabinsk Traktor | Goalie | Yes | No |
| Darren Dietz* | CSKA Moscow | Defense | Yes | No |
| Josh Currie | Magnitogorsk Metallurg | Forward | Yes | No |
| Phillipe Maillet | Magnitogorsk Metallurg | Forward | Yes | No |
| Brendan Leipsic | Magnitogorsk Metallurg | Forward | Yes | Yes |
| Edward Pasquale | Magnitogorsk Metallurg | Goalie | Yes | No |
| Kodie Curran | Magnitogorsk Metallurg | Defense | No | No |
| Jordan Weal | Moscow Dynamo | Forward | Yes | No |
| Eric O’Dell | Moscow Dynamo | Forward | Yes | No |
| Filip Varone | Moscow Spartak | Forward | Yes | No |
| Trevor Murphy | Novosibirsk Sibir | Defense | Yes | No |
| Taylor Beck | Novosibirsk Sibir | Forward | Yes | Yes (on paper) |
| Anthony Camara | Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik | Forward | No | No |
| Michael Chaput | Nur-Sultan Barys | Forward | Yes | No |
| Nelson Nogier | Nur-Sultan Barys | Defense | Yes | No |
| Jesse Graham | Nur-Sultan Barys | Defense | No | No |
| Christopher Bigras | Nur-Sultan Barys | Defense | Yes | No |
| Linden Vey | Nur-Sultan Barys | Forward | Yes | No |
| Corban Knight | Omsk Avangard | Forward | Yes | No |
| Tyler Graovavc | Podolsk Vityaz | Forward | Yes | No |
| Jeremy Roy | Podolsk Vityaz | Defense | No | No |
| Scott Wilson | Podolsk Vityaz | Forward | Yes | No |
| Alex Grant | Saint Petersburgs SKA | Defense | Yes | No |
| Brandon Gormley | Sochi HC | Defense | Yes | No |
| Joe Morrow | Sochi HC | Defense | Yes | No |
| Joshua Ho-Sang | Ufa Salavat Yulaev | Forward | Yes | Yes (in AHL) |
| Ryan Murphy | Ufa Salavat Yulaev | Defense | Yes | No |
| Colby Williams | Vladivostok Admiral | Defense | No | No |
| Patrice Cormier | Yekaterinburg Automobilist | Forward | Yes | No |
| Brooks Macek | Yekaterinburg Automobilist | Forward | No | No |
| Curtis Valk* | Yekaterinburg Automobilist | Forward | Yes | No |
Canadians on the Chinese Team:
| Name: | Team | Position | Former NHL Player | Former Leafs Player |
| Cliff Pu | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | No |
| Matteo Gennaro | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | No |
| Jack Rodewald | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | Yes | Yes (in AHL) |
| Liam Ross | Kunlun Red Star | Defense | No | No |
| Zac Leslie | Kunlun Red Star | Defense | No | No |
| Devin Brosseau | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | No |
| Ryan Sproul | Kunlun Red Star | Defense | Yes | Yes (in AHL) |
| Kyle Wood | Kunlun Red Star | Defense | No | No |
| Brett Pollock | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | No |
| Luke Lockhart* | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | No |
| Tyler Wong* | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | Yes (in AHL) |
| Parker Foo* | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | No |
| Garet Hunt* | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | No |
| Ethan Werek* | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | No | No |
| Ty Schultz* | Kunlun Red Star | Defense | No | No |
| Jason Fram* | Kunlun Red Star | Defense | No | No |
| Brandon Yip* | Kunlun Red Star | Forward | Yes | No |
It’s unknown for certain when this war will end. It’s just as uncertain if these 57 players will heed the call and leave Russia or Belarus. If they do, there could be plenty of opportunities in other leagues, but at least it’ll be safer for them.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D. Somehow the research and cross-tracking of players between Hockey DB and the KHL website took longer than actually writing the article. So that was fun.
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