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The KHL has a few curious rules for adding locked out NHL players

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If you’re a locked out NHL player and you’re eyeing the KHL as a possible backup plan to play hockey, you may be surprised to find out you don’t meet their criteria.

The Russian pro league announced today they’ve got a set of qualifications to help thin the possible herd of incoming foreign players. While KHL teams can claim up to three players, said players’ resumes need to have a few curious things on it (link in Russian, Yahoo!'s Dmitry Chesnokov clears some things up):

-- 150 NHL games played over the last three seasons

-- Must have previous KHL experience

-- A national team member in one of the last two World Championships, World Junior Championships, or Olympic teams

-- A Stanley Cup winner or finalist or an NHL award winner of another kind

To add to this, the KHL will only pay up to 65 percent of an NHL player’s contract so even if you want to go get paid, you’re not going to get it all. On the upside for the Russian team, that salary doesn’t count against their league’s cap.

With the Swedish league not allowing locked out players in (or will they?) and the KHL having these restrictions, suddenly Finland and Switzerland are looking a bit better for lockout hideaways.