An excerpt from TSN:

The NHL reached an agreement with a new Russian hockey league Thursday that temporarily ends the threat of players being lured away by big-money offers.

The pact to respect player contracts across all borders followed offers made last month by teams in Russia’s Continental Hockey League – which begins play in September – to entice Evgeni Malkin out of the final year of his deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was reached at a meeting of the NHL, the NHL Players’ Association and international hockey leagues in Zurich, the home of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

“Everyone in the room agreed that for the foreseeable future everyone will respect everybody’s contracts,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

Players’ union director Paul Kelly said all parties recognized the need for “clear respect between leagues.”

Habster:

It was incredibly important for both leagues (especially the NHL) to come to an understanding which has clear guidelines to follow regarding players under contracts.

When the KHL offered RFA Evgeni Malkin a huge contract to lure him back to Russia, it was a clear shot across the bow of the NHL which threatened an all out war between the two leagues for players under contract. Malkin was an RFA and is the property of the Pittsburgh Penguins until he becomes an UFA after his present 5 year/$43.5 million contract expires after the 2013-14 season.

Hopefully the NHL, IIHF countries and IIHF will finally come to a transfer agreement when they meet in New York on September 4th.