Biden administration mulled expelling Russian NHL players from US ahead of prisoner exchange to punish Putin: Report

The Biden administration considered expelling Russian NHL players as part of retaliatory sanctions against the country.

A report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published on August 7 looked at the issues surrounding the death of a notable political prisoner, Alexei Navalny. The piece looked into the role the Biden administration played in attempting to liberate Navalny from a notorious Russian gulag. However, the administration’s attempts failed after Russian president Vladimir Putin announced Navalny had died while in custody.

The WSJ chronicled how President Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, attempted to barter an exchange involving Navalny.

In particular, the attempts looked at various means of pressuring the Russian government to release Navalny without surrendering a key Russian asset in return.

The WSJ noted:

“The administration needed to explore alternative trades that wouldn’t include the murderer or other ways to pressure the Kremlin.”

The murderer in question was former FSB assassin Vaid Krasikov. President Putin was keen on a tit-for-tat deal in which Navalny would be released in exchange for Krasikov. But the Biden administration nixed that proposal.

The piece went on to describe other plans Jake Sullivan had to pressure the Kremlin:

“Sullivan had considered punishing Putin by expelling Russian hockey players in America, including Alexander Ovechkin, the NHL star chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record. He decided against it.”

The shocking revelation points toward what would have been a stunning move by the Biden regime. If the proposed threat had gone through, Ovechkin might not have had enough time to pass Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time goal scorer.

Moreover, a host of Russian NHL Players would have had to abandon the United States due to retaliatory policies.

Russian NHL players safe for now

The averted crisis has allowed Russian NHL Players to remain in the United States. The current Trump administration has not signaled any possible immigration measures against Russian nationals. If anything, teams have added Russian NHL players.

For instance, the Montreal Canadiens brought Ivan Demidov at the end of last season. This offseason, the New York Islanders signed Maxim Shabanov, while the Vancouver Canucks inked Vitali Kravtsov.

Such deals would not have been possible if the Biden administration had followed through on its threats. While Russian NHL Players may be safe for now, there’s no telling if that will remain the case down the road.

It also remains to be seen if the Russian government might prevent its players from heading to North America. If that’s the case, the only way Russian players could come to America would be through defections like in the days of the old Soviet Union.