If the CHL was so good for Russians you'd see everybody jumping at the chance to go there, Everybody's dream is the NHL. It would be like the Czechs.
But in general its a graveyard for Russian forwards. Kids/parents arent stupid, they know the historical trends. But some gullible fools still take the risk.
But the CHL is a fantastic league. It's the circumstances surrounding situations that cause problems. Cultural adaptation, reduction in quality of competition from KHL/VHL, etc.
And yes, gold division of MHL is pretty similar to CHL level.
At the end of the day, coaches want to develop their youth into good players regardless of what league they're in. Even for the KHL, there's national team implications.