Eliza PerronFinnish forward Roby Järventie signed a two-year contract with HC Ambrì-Piotta of the Swiss National League on May 5, 2026, ending his North American hockey career — at least for now — and sidestepping a pending restricted free agent (RFA) negotiation with the Edmonton Oilers. The move drew attention from hockey analysts, but it also illuminated a legal mechanism that employment lawyers recognize well beyond professional sports: the strategic use of a new contract in a separate jurisdiction to exit a restrictive employment relationship.
What Happened: A Finnish Forward Leaves the NHL
Järventie was drafted 33rd overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2020 and spent four seasons developing in the AHL before being traded to Edmonton in July 2024 in exchange for Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson. After a 2024-25 season largely lost to knee surgery, he returned to post 47 points in 61 AHL games this year, earning three NHL call-ups with the Oilers. Despite that production, he was set to become a restricted free agent this summer.
In the NHL, RFA status means a team retains certain rights over a young player's services even after their contract expires. The team can match any offer the player receives from another NHL club — a mechanism designed to protect teams' investments in developing prospects. But the collective bargaining agreement has a notable gap: if a player signs a professional contract in Europe, North American RFA restrictions effectively cannot follow them. Järventie, 23, chose Switzerland.
The RFA Rule: What It Means for Players — and for Workers
NHL restricted free agency is governed by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the National Hockey League Players' Association. Under the CBA, teams hold matching rights on offer sheets, arbitration rights, and compensation structures — all of which constrain where a player can work in North America.
The Swiss exit route is a legally clean break. Once a player signs a valid professional contract in Europe, no North American team can compel their return. The RFA rights technically still exist on paper, but they become practically unenforceable across jurisdictions. Employment law experts note that this is not unique to hockey: restrictive covenants — non-competes, right-of-first-refusal clauses, and retention provisions — face similar enforceability limits when an employee moves to a new legal jurisdiction.
In Canada, the enforceability of non-compete and restrictive employment clauses varies significantly by province. Ontario, for instance, effectively bans non-compete agreements for most employees as of October 2021 under amendments to the Employment Standards Act. British Columbia courts routinely scrutinize restraint-of-trade clauses for reasonableness. A clause that is valid in one province may be unenforceable in another — let alone in a different country.
When Employees Use Geography to Exit Restrictive Contracts
Järventie's situation — a talented worker leveraging a foreign opportunity to escape a domestic contractual restriction — is a scenario employment lawyers in Canada see in sectors beyond hockey. Tech professionals recruited by U.S. or European firms, finance executives moving to international banks, and healthcare workers relocating internationally all navigate versions of the same question: does my current employer's contract follow me?
The answer depends on several factors:
Governing law clause. Most employment contracts specify which province or country's law applies. If an Ontario-governed contract says non-compete terms are subject to Ontario law, and Ontario law renders those terms void, the clause may be unenforceable even if the employer is based elsewhere.
Scope and duration. Canadian courts assess whether restrictive covenants are reasonable in geographic scope, duration, and the activities they restrict. A clause banning a departing employee from working in the same industry for two years nationwide is far more likely to be challenged successfully than a six-month restriction within a specific city.
Nature of the role. Courts give more weight to restrictive covenants protecting genuine confidential relationships — client lists, trade secrets, specialized knowledge — than to generic attempts to prevent competition. A hockey team's investment in a player's development is precisely the kind of legitimate business interest courts are willing to protect, which is why NHL RFA rules exist. But the same logic does not automatically apply to standard employment situations.
Jurisdictional reach. Enforcing a Canadian contract against an employee working in Switzerland requires international legal proceedings. In practice, most employers will not pursue this unless the stakes are high. Järventie's new Swiss employer would not be bound by the Oilers' RFA rights under Swiss law.
What Canadian Workers Should Know Before Taking a Foreign Offer
If you are considering an international opportunity and your current contract contains non-compete or restrictive clauses, there are three immediate questions to ask a qualified employment lawyer:
- Is the clause enforceable in your province under current law? Given Ontario's 2021 amendments and evolving provincial case law, many existing non-competes are already legally questionable.
- What does the governing law clause say? If your contract is governed by a province that limits these clauses, your employer's leverage is diminished from the start.
- Does your new offer require disclosure of your current restrictions? Accepting a foreign contract while concealing a valid restrictive covenant can expose you to civil liability even if the clause itself is unenforceable where you will be working.
Järventie's case also illustrates the importance of timing. He did not walk away from a current contract — he waited until his contract expired before signing in Europe. Workers navigating similar situations should understand the difference between leaving during a contract (which may constitute breach) and choosing not to renew at the end of one (which is generally protected).
When to Call an Employment Lawyer
The professional sports world makes these dynamics visible because contract terms are publicly available and the stakes are high-profile. But Canadian workers in any industry can face identical structural pressures — a smaller employer with outsized contractual ambitions, or a clause that looks intimidating on paper but may not survive legal scrutiny.
According to the Government of Canada's federal labour standards, workers have baseline protections that apply regardless of what a contract says. An employment lawyer can help you understand which provisions in your agreement are enforceable, which are not, and what your realistic options are before you make a career-defining decision.
Roby Järventie made a well-informed choice. Canadian workers facing restrictive employment terms deserve the same quality of advice.
