Russia's quest to gather the very best of its talent for the 2010 Winter Games has led the hockey giant to call on a large contingent of NHL players for an upcoming Olympic Summer camp that will begin later this month in Moscow.

The Russian Ice Hockey Federation revealed a list of 38 camp participants and all come from only two leagues -- the NHL and the two-year-old Kontinental Hockey League. Of the invitees, 22 played primarily in the NHL last season. But since the conclusion of the 2008-09 campaign, four have signed contracts to play in their homeland -- Sergei Fedorov (Washington to Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Dmitri Kalinin (Phoenix to Salavat Yulayev Ufa), Viktor Kozlov (Washington to Salavat Yulayev Ufa) and Sergei Zubov (Dallas to SKA St. Petersburg).

Officially, the current split is 19-19 because Zubov's contract will not be registered with the KHL until after Aug. 12, making him an unrestricted free agent at the moment.

The camp will run from Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at Megasports, the largest arena in Russia, and include on- and off-ice sessions. Fans will be admitted to the practices.

Russia, the two-time defending IIHF world champion, will have 20 players in camp who won gold in the 2009 tournament in Switzerland. Not among them are Nikolai Zherdev, who played for the New York Rangers in 2008-09 and is currently a restricted free agent, and Sergei Mozyakin, the leading scorer of the KHL last season with 36-42-78 in 56 games for Atlant Mytischi.

Coached by Vyacheslav Bykov, Russia will be led by a glut of superstar offensive players -- Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk, all of whom topped 90 points last season. Alexander Semin surely would have joined them if not for missing 20 games with injuries. Add Alexander Frolov of Los Angeles, and Russia has six campers who topped 30 goals in 2008-09.

Eight of the top 10 Russian NHL scorers from last season will be in Moscow. Not invited were Vyacheslav Kozlov of Atlanta (26-50-76) and Sergei Samsonov of Carolina (16-32-48).

There are also veterans Alexei Kovalev (Ottawa) and Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan). The latter played in Pittsburgh from 1997 to 2004 but has excelled in Russia since leaving the NHL. He was third in the KHL in scoring with 33-39-72 in 49 games. Danis Zaripov of Ak Bars Kazan was fourth with 34-31-65 in 56 games.

The defense is in capable hands with a collection of scorers and shutdown types. Veterans Zubov, Andrei Markov and Sergei Gonchar are elite power-play quarterbacks, and Fedor Tyutin brings a big shot and a physical presence. Anton Volchenkov, Kalinin and Denis Grebeshkov can lay hits and block shots.

San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov is the odds-on favorite to start in goal, and Simeon Varlamov or Ilya Bryzgalov may see action against weaker opponents. Edmonton's Nikolai Khabibulin, who played in the 2002 and 2006 Games, was not invited despite coming off a solid season. He'll turn 37 a month before the Vancouver tournament begins.

The final 23-man Olympic roster does not have to be registered with the International Ice Hockey Federation until Dec. 31, though injury substitutions can be added before the tournament begins Feb. 16.

Following the camp, Russia will participate in the Euro Hockey Tour with the Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden. The tournament begins Sept. 3 in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic and will visit each nation. Russia is likely to use only KHL players.

In its Olympic history, Russia has medaled 12 times in 14 tournaments. The hockey giant is coming off a fourth place showing at the 2006 Games but is currently first in the International Ice Hockey Federation's world rankings.

2010 Russia Olympic candidates

Goalkeepers (4): Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix), Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose), Simeon Varlamov (Washington), Alexander Yeremko (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)

Defensemen (15): Vitali Atyushov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh), Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton), Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat Yulayev), Maxim Kondratiev (Salavat Yulayev Ufa), Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow), Andrei Markov (Montreal), Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan), Vitali Proshkin (Salavat Yulayev Ufa), Oleg Tverdovsky (Salavat Yulayev Ufa), Fedor Tyutin (Columbus), Vitali Vishnevsky (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl), Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa), Alexei Zhitnik (Dynamo Moscow), Sergei Zubov (SKA St. Petersburg)

Forwards (19): Maxim Afinogenov (free agent), Evgeny Artyukhin (Tampa Bay), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit), Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Alexander Frolov (Los Angeles), Konstantin Gorovikov (SKA St. Petersburg), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta), Alexei Kovalev (Ottawa), Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa), Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh), Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan), Alexander Ovechkin (Washington), Alexander Radulov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa), Oleg Saprykin (Dynamo Moscow), Alexander Semin (Washington), Alexei Tereschenko (Ak Bars Kazan), Danis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan), Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)

Contact Rocky Bonanno at: rbonanno@nhl.com.