KHL Will Not Release Players Available to Vladivostok

12 Jun 2013 | Tim Bourcier

12 June was the deadline for teams to provide the expansion team with five players that will be available in the expansion draft.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) announced today on their website that there will be a major press conference on 17 June where Admirals Vladivostok will select 19 players for their roster as part of the 2013 KHL Expansion Draft (press release can be viewed here). The deadline for each team to place five players into the expansion draft pool was today. The rules for each team submitting players into the expansion draft pool can be seen here.

However, a league spokesman stated they would not be releasing those named players that are up for grabs to the press until draft day because of ethical issues and league agreements with the various teams. The KHL spokesman did say that Vladivostok has the list of all the available players and that the players (or their agents) were fully aware that they are on the expansion draft availability list.

In the KHL press release, it was also noted that the schedule for next season would be announced from Moscow during the Press Conference on 17 June. It is assumed that divisions will be confirmed for both new teams, Vladivostock and KHL Medvescak (Zagreb), at this time. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Tim Bourcier is a writer for Eurohockey.com and The Hockey Writers following the KHL and hockey in Croatia. Follow him on Twitter @bourciertm and read his blog Sport Exec in Training.