In Russia, the economic ills and reported struggles that have dogged the region of late have a direct impact on the ice. It doesn’t show on the scoreboard – there is no chart mapping the precipitous fall of the Russian rouble painted under the center-ice faceoff dot during a Kontinental Hockey League game – but there is a direct connection.

That instability and volatility are having a negative impact on the viability of North American players earning a living, according to former KHL goalie Chris Holt.

It’s easy to forget the ties that bind a professional sports league to the physical location where the play takes place. Last year, though, as the value of crude oil and rouble collapsed at an alarming rate and even as talks and ceasefires are discussed in hopes of ending volatility in Ukraine and the rouble is steadied, the impact was felt. Teams in the KHL were forced to make drastic, quick decisions on some of the North American talent.

“Imports are often the most expensive players on the teams so the economy may impact that moving forward,” Holt said. “I know that many teams were putting their most expensive players on waivers because they were in some financial trouble and I’m not sure if their previous teams still owe them.”

The final part of that statement is alarming to an American sports fan. Imagine the lack of a guarantee in the contract of an NHL star like Sidney Crosby? In North America, the players have a strong union protection and regardless of the circumstances of team owner’s other business ventures, a consistent paycheck is always there.

Holt, who played three seasons in the KHL for four teams, explained how things are done in the KHL.

“Players are typically paid every month,” he explained. “There have been circumstances where I have had to go a couple extra weeks without a check, but nothing more than that.”

While those aren’t extraordinary labor practices, Holt noted that other players he’s spoken with have not been as lucky.

“Unfortunately, I have heard from other imports that have gone months without a check or have been only partially paid for the time period,” he said. “It really depends on the team you are on, and rest assured, we all talk and are very informed of teams with a poor reputation for this kind of thing.”

The inconsistency of pay is just something you have to deal with, Holt said. Business goes on as usual and sometimes it’s better not to make waves about it.

There are also incentives and financial punishments for play, something Holt called a double-edged sword.

“If you are not producing like the team expects you to (no matter how unrealistically lofty those expectations might be) you find yourself in a situation where there is a glitch in your payment,” he said. “I (my team) have often been threatened with payment holds during a cold streak. There are also large bonuses for winning, so it is a bit of a double-edged sword. Just play well and all is usually going to be fine.”

According to Holt, the average salary for an import is approximately $300,000 to $500,000 annually. Imports, Holt says, are among the most expensive players. That salary begins to grow when you add in incentives.

Many teams, Holt explains, can give a few thousand per win and other bonuses in the area of $1,000 per goal. Bigger bonuses come from playoff success, like $50,000 for a series win and $100,000 by winning the series after that.

For some players, the risks are worth the rewards. It’s an opportunity to play hockey at a high level and collect a paycheck, however infrequently it may be. There’s still a tremendous earning potential in the KHL, which is unrivaled by any league outside the NHL in North America. The league also gets players to commit with a different timeline than the NHL, which benefits the KHL.

“Often the KHL wants to talk contracts and demand almost immediate answers in April, far before NHL teams are thinking about free agency,” Holt said. That’s how we get stuck … we take the huge money in an unstable league, over turning everything down to maybe talk to the NHL in July, even though most of us dream of a career in the NHL. Kind of a smart trap by the KHL.”

So while the contracts are different than those in the NHL, it’s not exactly strange. It’s a success-integral business for the owner, why not the player? What’s on paper may be deceiving, though, according to an anonymous source with direct knowledge of KHL contracts.

The dollar amount on paper is often nowhere near the actual amount a player might receive. A good playoff run or strong play could earn a player close to 50-75% more than the original net sum agreed upon, that’s including the “on-paper” incentives. That money, is in off-the-books payments, sometimes envelopes of cash, according to the source.

That earning potential is surely a positive for players looking to display their craft on a grand stage while being able to support themselves and their families, whether that family joined them overseas or is back home.

While Holt acknowledges the obvious downside associated with playing in Russia – 10-plus-hour flights across eight time zones and air travel he said was “in all honesty a little terrifying” before the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that claimed the lives of 44, including an entire KHL team – to him it was still an opportunity to play hockey at a high level.

He hasn’t closed the door on the sport that he’s spent so much of his life trying to succeed at. Holt is not alone. There are still plenty of North American players taking the ice and lacing up their skates across those eight time zones.

Holt says that day-to-day life in the KHL is mostly normal, once you get past the language barrier. There are two-month-long training camps with work days that can exceed seven hours and sometimes be grueling.

And while it could get lonely (sometimes families will travel to Russia from North America) Holt says that the locals and Russian players have always been kind. It also helps that other North American players are around.

“Players from like nations will almost always flock together outside of the arena, but every team I have been on, the team-mates have been very nice to me and other imports,” said Holt.

But there’s still political uncertainty. There are still sanctions that could hurt the financial health of any organization. The money could be here today and gone tomorrow. The more gunfire that fills regions of political instability and the more sanctions that follow, could mean a less frequent paycheck. It’s a risky reality.

The NHL Players’ Association, the union representing player interest in the NHL, keeps players and their agents apprised of the sanctions and how it could affect their career overseas.

“We have informed agents/players that there are government sanctions in place and players/agents need to be aware of these sanctions if they are considering entering into a contract with a Russian person or business,” Jonathan Weatherdon, a spokesman for the NHLPA said. “We aren’t advising them on whether to sign a contract, but we are making them aware of these sanctions and recommend they seek appropriate legal counsel if they are considering a contract.”

There’s an obvious inherent risk, especially in contract instability.

It’s hard to lend an ear of sympathy, though, to the athletes making potentially millions. They’re surrounded by a team of advisers and, despite a language barrier, the contracts probably aren’t cryptic zodiac-killer creeds or illegible psychobabble.

There’s another side to the coin here too, a lot of top talent from Russia plays in North America and economic turmoil makes playing in Russia less attractive. There are, of course, some richer teams – Holt says the expensive imports being placed on waivers was to the delight of the richer teams that could snag those players – but costly assets like the Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin are less likely to head back to their home country, when the next paycheck is not guaranteed.

It’s impossible to tell, however, because for a player like Ovechkin, maybe that money is guaranteed or, based on that information supplied by an anonymous source, he’ll have a lot more coming to him than advertised. He is, after all, a marquee talent, that despite the plunging price of crude oil affecting the financials of some of the league’s owners, any team would be lucky to have.

Things seem to be levelling off financially, but there’s uncertainty when discussing something one of the largest economic markets in the world. The rouble could collapse completely tomorrow, or new sanctions could force all North American players back home. For now, it’s a risk that enough players seem to be willing to take.