The President of CSKA Igor Esmantovich, answering a question about the limit on international players in the KHL, told Match TV that the CSKA is satisfied with the current situation when there are only two foreign hockey players in the team.
In December 2022, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation approved a change in the limit for international players in the KHL. Starting from the 2023/24 season‑, clubs can include no more than three foreigners in the application for the game.
— In recent days, the issue of the number of international players in KHL clubs has become relevant again. What do you think is the current limit for the league?
— In its long-term strategy for the development of professional hockey, CSKA relies primarily on the training of their own players. CSKA Hockey School, whose work is paid great attention to, has been achieving significant results at the ‑junior level for many years, winning both the Moscow Open Championship and all-Russian competitions. The fruitful work of the school affects the performances of all professional teams of the CSKA system.
The Red Army team, made up of school graduates, has twice won the Kharlamov Cup and the World Cup among youth teams. The CSKA students played key roles in each of the championship campaigns of the club's main team and raised the Gagarin Cup three times over their heads. This proves the rightness of our chosen line of development. As for the issue of international players, at the moment there are only two of them in our team, and this situation satisfies us. Our priority is to recruit Russian players.
