CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Russia’s reputation took a hit after invading Ukraine. One National Hockey League agent representing several Russian stars says negativity directed towards the players is unfair.

“They’re just good people,” says Dan Milstein, a political refugee from Ukraine who came to the U.S. in 1991 with one suitcase and 17 cents in his pocket. “They’re here to be contributing members to our society in the United States and Canada. They’re not the guys to be blaming.”

Milstein represents about a dozen Russian and Belarusian players. He says many of them are dealing with harassment, including defending champion Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy. He also said he has received threats by email and on social media since telling ESPN many of his clients are dealing with harassment.

“In the National Hockey League, my clients have received threats — their wives and family members here in the United States,” he said on “The Donlon Report” on Monday night.

Those types of threats — and far worse — are also a fact of life for some who cross Putin in Russia. Dissenting voices have been put on notice after the government passed a law that would punish so-called disinformation about Ukraine with 15 years in prison.

Some have accused Russian media of furthering the state’s propaganda. In 2021, a Russian tabloid ran a story accusing New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin of assaulting a woman in 2011. Before that article came out, Panarin had voiced his support for Alexei Navalny, a staunch Putin adversary.

Milstein says Russian athletes have to consider retaliation against them and their families if they decide to criticize the government.

“Overall, my clients want world peace, nobody wants to war,” Milstein said on “The Donlon Report.” “Could you imagine stepping on the ice and playing a competitive game thinking that your wife and your newborn child are at home unprotected?”

Milstein is also concerned about young, draft-eligible Russian players. Some have proposed cutting off their access to playing professionally in North America. Milstein said that wouldn’t be fair.

“Don’t take it out on a 16-year-old, 17-year-old teenagers,” he said.

Most Russian-NHL players have remained silent. Only Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Calgary’s Nikita Zadorov have spoken up so far.

Ovechkin, arguably the most decorated Russian-born player in the NHL, is the league’s fourth-most prolific goal scorer of all time. He’s also a staunch supporter of Putin. In the early days of the war, Ovechkin said he wanted peace, but still keeps a photo of him and Putin as his profile photo on Instagram.

On March 5, Ovechkin was booed when he and the Washington Capitals played in Columbus, Ohio.

Zadorov posted “NO WAR” and “STOP IT!!!” to his Instagram page. But Panarin erased all elements of his criticism from his Instagram account and made it private.

The NHL said in a statement earlier this week it is “concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL clubs, and not on behalf of Russia. We understand they and their families are being placed in an extremely difficult position.”

An NHL spokesman said the league wanted to stand by that statement without elaborating. When contacted, the NHLPA said it has been in communication with the league regarding security measures at both the league and team levels.

Milstein is a unique position, as someone with interest in both countries.

“My home where I grew up and live for the first 16 years of my life is being bombed right now. I am very much worried about the people of Ukraine and people of the neighboring countries,” he said.

But that has not stopped him from empathizing with his Russian players: “I’m also worried about safety of my clients.”