NHL Can Now Ransack Europe

…for free. You can go ahead and make a ‘and France already surrendered!’ joke if it makes you feel better. The international transfer deal between the NHL and IIHF has expired, meaning the league no longer pays the $200,000 fee to sign European free agents. NHL teams currently spend about $11 million a year on European free agents, many of which end up in the minors. This can’t be good for the clubs in the IIHF leagues, who were already worried about their talent leaving for the (potential) payday in the US and Canada.