 Shortly before the end of the 1988 – 89 regular season , Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher announced that he had reached an agreement with Soviet authorities that allowed Sergei Pryakhin to play in North America . It was the first time a member of the Soviet national team was permitted to play for a non @-@ Soviet team . Shortly after , Soviet players began to flood into the NHL . Teams anticipated that there would be an influx of Soviet players in the 1990s , as 18 Soviets were selected in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft . The entire " KLM " line , the Soviet team 's top line , joined the NHL in 1989 as Vladimir Krutov and Igor Larionov played for the Canucks , while Sergei Makarov went to Calgary . Makarov won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year in 1990 , a selection that caused controversy ; he was 32 years old and had played 11 pro seasons in the Soviet League . In the wake of the controversy , the NHL amended its rules : players over the age of 26 were no longer considered for the award . The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the demise of the Iron Curtain paved the way for more Eastern European players to play in North America . Only six European players were selected at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft . That number increased to 32 in 1989 , while a record 123 Europeans were drafted in 2000 . Europeans made up 22 @.@ 5 % of the NHL in 2013 @-@ 14 , totalling 232 players . 
