That’s a SB nation article too, I could have written that. There’s nothing that enforces proper context, facts or nuance in those articles. A lot of them are helpful guides yes but it’s not some official decree.
Drafted by the CHL means absolutely nothing. Tons of kids get drafted and never show up, it does not impact what they can and can’t do. Kaut was drafted by Brandon in 2017 before he was drafted in the NHL, that didn’t stop him from playing in the AHL. Teams make Hail Mary picks all the time in the import draft on Americans or Europeans if they have an import slot open and hope if circumstances change they hold the winning ticket.
The NHL-CHL agreement is all about contract status. The kids that play in the CHL have signed a contract to that team, that’s what prevents the movement. It’s nothing to do with AHL or NHL rules or mandates. A lot of Euros that go over to the CHL already have played pro and have contracts in their home country and therefore have been “on loan” to the CHL so that their original contract supersedes the CHL contract. This is how you see Euros who played in the CHL in their draft year end up going to the AHL early. Zadina, Alex Nylander, there’s many examples of this. The Russians are the ones who get screwed because since there’s no recognized transfer agreement they have to have no contract to sign in the CHL and therefore can’t take advantage of the Euro loophole.
The deadline for the transfer agreement to allow kids to sign NHL contracts was usually July 15, it was extended to Aug 15 this year. It’s why you see so many recent ELC signings were Euros before that deadline. Oskar was one so the reason why the Avs did it so early was probably for the transfer agreement which means he does still have an active contract in Sweden (I think he signed an extension this spring) and therefore would be eligible for the on loan loophole.