International agreement going unsigned

While the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation has signed the agreement with the NHL, both the Czech Republic and Russia have not. Both those countries want to be better compensated by the NHL for the players they lose to the American league. At issue is the "Player Transfer Agreement," from the IIHF web site - "The Player Transfer Agreement is a plan whereby the IIHF distributes money among the national federations and clubs that lose players to the NHL based on a formula devised by the IIHF and the national federations."

The risk is that if the agreement is unsigned national players playing in the NHL will be unable to join their respective olympic ice hockey teams, which makes for less competitive hockey.

This is an area that will be a source of friction for years to come.