It will be an all-NHL roster, at least on initial release, when Russia names its outfit for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Alexei Zhamnov, a member of the country's brain trust, told Sportsnet's Chris Johnston that the 16 players selected to Russia's initial roster will be NHLers, exclusively.
"(For the remaining) seven spots, we'll discuss," Zhamnov said. "Maybe some players from KHL, too. Right now it’s most important for us to make the list of 16 players."
Related: Projecting the 5 European World Cup rosters
Russia has 16 players in North America more than capable of making the roster. In fact, it may have the tournament's best collection of forwards. But this decision likely isn't without a nudge from the NHL, which designed the event in order to showcase and celebrate its brand specifically.
"If we want to bring KHL players they will be the right players for the national team - that's all," Zhamnov said. "We come for the World Cup and we don't want to lose like every game, right? We want to win.
"If we take the players from KHL it's going to be good players."
Question is, how is Ilya Kovalchuk classified?
