The league will revamp the Russian Super League and will comprise that league’s existing 20 teams plus one from a lower league and one each from the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Latvia. The teams will play for the Gagarin Cup. The top two teams will then compete in a Europe-wide championship.
Alexander Medvedev, the new Continental Hockey League’s president said the league will adopt international rules and intends to hold a draft that could include NHL players. Medvedev is also
deputy chairman of energy giant OAO Gazprom, and was recently elected to the International Ice Hockey Federation council.
"We are planning to draft players from around the world, including the NHL," Medvedev said.
