Entry Discrimination in the NHL: Evolution and the KHL Effect

Abstract

This paper revisits the issue of hiring discrimination in the National Hockey League (NHL), at the time of the draft. It updates studies that were last made for the 1993–1994 season with data from 2009 to 2010. The results show that there is still no entry discrimination against American hockey players. Entry discrimination against French Canadian hockey players seems to have disappeared. There is still apparent entry discrimination against non-Russian European hockey players, but less so than before. There is a strong and obvious KHL effect against Russian hockey players, which discourages NHL teams from drafting young Russian players as early as they should.