kp61c
Registered User
maybe, it's trending in the right direction for sure and that's nice to see. it's blows european leagues out of the water in terms of the potential
Extra liga ahead of the SHL, NL and AHL? DEL ahead of liiga and NL?1. NHL
2. KHL
3. Extraliga
4. SHL
5. AHL
6. DEL
Right ranks.
Hard to see what potential there still is, the KHL of yesteryear with teams in various European capitals will never come back and for its current sorry state of existence 23 teams are simply way too many. Meanwhile in Sweden or Switzerland we have 14. Frankly the KHL should cut down to the same immediately if it wishes to have potential as a competitive professional league.
Extra liga ahead of the SHL, NL and AHL?
No, the depth is atrocious. The best czech players there are really good, but it gets thin quickly. The fact that Swedish HA players aren't completely embarrassed there says it all.They win World Championship with some Extra liga players says that this league is enough.
Hard to see what potential there still is, the KHL of yesteryear with teams in various European capitals will never come back and for its current sorry state of existence 23 teams are simply way too many. Meanwhile in Sweden or Switzerland we have 14. Frankly the KHL should cut down to the same immediately if it wishes to have potential as a competitive professional league.
The population of Russia is way bigger than Sweden or Switzerland. They should have more teams.Hard to see what potential there still is, the KHL of yesteryear with teams in various European capitals will never come back and for its current sorry state of existence 23 teams are simply way too many. Meanwhile in Sweden or Switzerland we have 14. Frankly the KHL should cut down to the same immediately if it wishes to have potential as a competitive professional league.
The population of Russia is way bigger than Sweden or Switzerland. They should have more teams.
That said I think the sweet spot is 18 teams.
The system in Sweden works really well as it is, also lower tiers are generally competitive and there are many, annual promotion and relegation between each. In Russia despite being a bigger country there's nothing serious below the KHL and the VHL. Already the third tier is basically recreational hockey and would get torn apart by any Hockeyettan team (and there are 40).The population of Russia is way bigger than Sweden or Switzerland. They should have more teams.
That said I think the sweet spot is 18 teams. 17 x 4 for 68 game season. The smaller leagues in Europe should combine to make 3 main leagues. Eg. Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and the Baltics should combine to make one league (three 18 team leagues of relegation).
Could easily go four or five 14-18 team leagues with relegation that includes all of Northern Europe. Another way to look at it would be if teams from Finland, Norway, Denmark, and the Baltics joined the SHL system.The system in Sweden works really well as it is, also lower tiers are generally competitive and there are many, annual promotion and relegation between each. In Russia despite being a bigger country there's nothing serious below the KHL and the VHL. Already the third tier is basically recreational hockey and would get torn apart by any Hockeyettan team (and there are 40).
In Finland 12+12 teams and promotion/relegation would be better, Liiga has some unnecessary ballast and Mestis needs major teams to stay interesting. But Jokerit has been a bigger hit even there than previously in the KHL so clearly domestic hockey with its natural rivalries is not easily replaceable.
Another way to look at it would be if teams from Finland, Norway, Denmark, and the Baltics joined the SHL system.
They save by exclusively taking the bus, same as some minor leagues in North America. One reason why North American pros of that level rather sign in Europe if they can find a taker. Around the Baltic Sea bus travel throughout the season isn't viable anyway because of geography.The WHL has longer travel and does well
Dillon Dubé, Brendan Leipsic, Alex Galchenyuk, Mitchell Miller...It is clear that the KHL does much better at attracting marginal NHL talents
Dillon Dubé, Brendan Leipsic, Alex Galchenyuk, Mitchell Miller...
Liiga has gotten much worse and there is no way the AHL is better than the SHL. Otherwise the order is correct. I would have it like this:It is clear that the KHL does much better at attracting marginal NHL talents (players that would sign 2-way contracts or one way contracts valued at $1.1 million or less) than any other League in the world. The Euro Exodus had some effect, but better Russian/Belarusian development is off-setting some of that and they can still just fill imports with Canadians via more $. The other thing to keep in mind with Euro Exodus is they largely dispersed, so nobody was a major benefactor as opposed to a bunch of places being small benefactors. At sub-NHL level, it's more akin to Soccer where the best players scatter throughout leagues rather than all concentrate in one league than the next, etc.
I would say it's
KHL
AHL
GAP
SHL
NLA
Liiga
GAP
DEL
Extraliga
The Development Player spots is what makes the AHL tricky to rank. You are correct that many players are gifted spots, but at the same time, the tru AHL vets and 2-way contract players are high quality, and many of the development players are as well because they are at or close to NHL level that just need a bit more seasoning before they become Regular NHL players. Going from AHL to EuroPro and having a good career in good leagues is pretty common for players that run out of Development Player status and don't get NHL contracts, but hard to say how much better they get from say 23 -> 27 in those instances.Liiga has gotten much worse and there is no way the AHL is better than the SHL. Otherwise the order is correct. I would have it like this:
KHL
SHL
AHL
NLA
Liiga
DEL
Extra liga
The AHL has too many players gifted a roster spot for development to beat the SHL.
Liiga has gotten much worse and there is no way the AHL is better than the SHL. Otherwise the order is correct. I would have it like this:
KHL
SHL
AHL
NLA
Liiga
DEL
Extra liga
The AHL has too many players gifted a roster spot for development to beat the SHL.
A kobe beef salad has one part of the best meat you can eat. But a whole steak has just steak and lots of itExtra liga have gold players this year.
AHL hasn't gold players this year.