There should be no gray area on this, and the reality is that the chances of Ovechkin or anyone else under contract not returning to their NHL clubs at the end of this process -- whenever that might be and however painful it might be to the players -- is slim to none.

Beyond the sheer nonsense of the threat, Ovechkin’s comments are an inadvertent slap in the face to the NHLPA itself. He might not have intended it but Ovechkin was talking about how he might react to a final deal bargained by executive director Donald Fehr and ratified by the players themselves, how in the end such a deal might not be good enough for him.

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I am not sure what direction Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington is going here...

For one, it would be a breach of contract against the Capitals. It would also violate the agreement between the NHL and the KHL to honor players’ contracts.

And then there is the possibility of sanctions from the International Ice Hockey Federation and the NHL’s involvement in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, an event Ovechkin desperately wants to be a part of.

Given the fact NHL players almost certainly will need to take a reduction in pay to end the current labor standoff, Ovechkin's threat should be taken very seriously by the NHL.

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