DEAL VOIDED BY ARBITRATOR! Kovalchuk re-signs in Jersey: $102M over 17 years

shabbs wrote:If I was the KHL, I'd be pressing hard now, with a lot of suitcases of cash...

I don't think he wants to go to the KHL.

Devils will modify the contract and suck up a bigger cap hit, this is the 1st time a contract has been rejected I don't see any penalties being handed out.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:I am amazed they rejected it... this should get interesting now. I wonder if they'll just lop off those last 5 years and end up with a 12-year deal.

That would be an $8.5M cap hit instead of $6M. Quite a difference.

Exactly what the NHL is saying. Kovalchuk was slated to earn $95 million over the first 10 years of the deal and then just $7 million over the last seven seasons. Pretty blatant.

Hoags wrote:

shabbs wrote:If I was the KHL, I'd be pressing hard now, with a lot of suitcases of cash...

I don't think he wants to go to the KHL.

Devils will modify the contract and suck up a bigger cap hit, this is the 1st time a contract has been rejected I don't see any penalties being handed out.

But can they? They're already over the cap as it is, with this "cap saver" contract. I wonder if this opens the door for LA, again?

He collects 96.66% of the value of his contract over 64.5% of his contract term... His final 6 years of this contract---SIX YEARS----pay him almost 50% less than than the first year alone.

Yeah...I think there might be some questions to resolve.



...3.5 million over the final 6 years!! I`m astonished that any GM had the balls to try that, let alone Lou.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think the worst they can do is allow it to be structured like the Luongo, Hossa or Pronger deals.

The Pronger deal is not relevant as it kicked in after 35 years of age. No cap circumvention.

RobbyJ wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think the worst they can do is allow it to be structured like the Luongo, Hossa or Pronger deals.

The Pronger deal is not relevant as it kicked in after 35 years of age. No cap circumvention.

The length of it did though... to get the average cap hit down...

sigh...just when you think the Kovalchuk saga has ended, BAM! I'm all for rejection of this contract, but the precedent was already set with Luongo and Hossa. Unless you're Chelios, you're not going to play till you're 43. All three deals circumvent the 'spirit' of the CBA. I just don't get why it took them more than 24 hours to finally reject it.

And where does this leave Kovalchuk now....is he officially a UFA again?

shabbs wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think the worst they can do is allow it to be structured like the Luongo, Hossa or Pronger deals.

The Pronger deal is not relevant as it kicked in after 35 years of age. No cap circumvention.

The length of it did though... to get the average cap hit down...

The length doesn't matter in that case, his cap hit remains throughout the duration of the contract. It does not circumvent the cap in any manner at all. Total cap hit = Total dollars paid.

shabbs wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think the worst they can do is allow it to be structured like the Luongo, Hossa or Pronger deals.

The Pronger deal is not relevant as it kicked in after 35 years of age. No cap circumvention.

The length of it did though... to get the average cap hit down...

I'm not sure if that's the big issue right now. For Pronger and the flyers, they'd still be on the hook for that money even if he retired, but with Kovalchuk and the rest, that's not the case at all. I'd put Savard deal in the same category, though its only till he turns 40.

RobbyJ wrote:

shabbs wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think the worst they can do is allow it to be structured like the Luongo, Hossa or Pronger deals.

The Pronger deal is not relevant as it kicked in after 35 years of age. No cap circumvention.

The length of it did though... to get the average cap hit down...

The length doesn't matter in that case, his cap hit remains throughout the duration of the contract. It does not circumvent the cap in any manner at all. Total cap hit = Total dollars paid.

What I meant was, they made the contract super long in order to get the overall cap hit down to something they could absorb, knowing full well that he likely won't play in the final years, even though the cap hit stays on the books since it's a 35+ contract.

The structure of Kovalchuk's contract is the same, but they have the added advantage of it all coming off the books if he retires early.

Kovalchuk wants the big salary... and in order to give it to him, Lou had to stretch it out and front load the crap out of it.

I thought a 35+ deal came off the cap if the player retired after 2 years of signing the deal?

Nevermind, I just looked it up and it says that the average salary (cap hit) counts against the cap for the duration of the contract even if the player retires.

Here comes a 15 year contract, worth a cap hit of around 6.5. It's not that hard to fix, but it hurts the Devils (which is good).
EDIT: This is my gut feeling, nothing more.

Michallica wrote:And where does this leave Kovalchuk now....is he officially a UFA again?

According to Darren Dreger:

"If NJ doesn't refile and the NHLPA doesn't grieve, Kovy will be a UFA. If the PA grieves, his future is up in the air pending resolution."

shabbs wrote:

Michallica wrote:And where does this leave Kovalchuk now....is he officially a UFA again?

According to Darren Dreger:

"If NJ doesn't refile and the NHLPA doesn't grieve, Kovy will be a UFA. If the PA grieves, his future is up in the air pending resolution."

His agent will be in deep trouble over this. Grossman I think it is - you can't have your agent credentials renewed if you've been part of a cap circumvention allegation.

SpezDispenser wrote:Here comes a 15 year contract, worth a cap hit of around 6.5. It's not that hard to fix, but it hurts the Devils (which is good).
EDIT: This is my gut feeling, nothing more.

They allowed contracts to go to age 42 already, so this might be the ticket. They can probably still work the same cap hit too for a little more money in different years of the deal.

Lou will have to make the salary drop off much less ridiculous as well. As long as they structure is similar to an already approved contract, the NHL will have to allow it.

I think Jersey will just file another contract. They've gone in too deep with the Kovalchuk talks, as well as introducing him to the press, advertising him as a devil. And I think Grossman will want to save his hide too, so as SD says, 15 year contract should be around the block.

shabbs wrote:

Michallica wrote:And where does this leave Kovalchuk now....is he officially a UFA again?

According to Darren Dreger:

"If NJ doesn't refile and the NHLPA doesn't grieve, Kovy will be a UFA. If the PA grieves, his future is up in the air pending resolution."

Would be hilarious if at the end of all this, he ends up with LA or the KHL....or anyone not New Jersey