Slava Malamud of Sport-Express brings news this afternoon which raises the likelihood that regardless of how much the Nashville Predators might want to sign Alexander Radulov to a new contract, they'll face major competition from the KHL, due to a new wrinkle in their salary cap rules announced today.

Alexander Radulov

#47 / Right Wing / Nashville Predators

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Born: Jul 05, 1986

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Here are the tweets from Malamud which came across today:

And here goes KHL, doing its thing again. The league announces that all returning Russian NHLers will not count against the salary cap.

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) May 13, 2012

Now, each KHL team will be limited to one such signing. Still, this should enable the rich clubs to back up the cash truck to Radulov, Semin

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) May 13, 2012

1 more caveat on the KHL news. The player would have to be approved by national team coaches as "worthy" to be excluded from salary cap.

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) May 13, 2012

And make no mistake, there are a few clubs (SKA St. Petersburg, for example, which is led by KHL President Alexander Medvedev) with the resources to compete with a high-end NHL offer. Will Radulov choose the highest bidder, take the opportunity to play with the KHL team of his choice, or commit to the NHL and test himself for a full season in the world's best hockey league?

No matter how this works out, have we seen a player in recent years who has had league rules & customs ignored, changed, or set aside due to his personal circumstances so often?