4 Other Contracts Under Review

Let the nuttiness begin!! Following Kovalchuk's nixed deal, the NHL has decided to review 4 other NHL contracts.

Luongo - 12 years $64 Million
Pronger - 7 years $34.45 Million - signed after he was 35 no? why would it matter?
Savard - 7 years $28.05 Million
Hossa - 12 years $62.8 Million

Is this something that can be reversed if they deem it to be unacceptable? It's too late to go back on those now is it not?

The hammer that fell on the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk regarding the sniper's voided 17-year contract with the team could deal blows to other NHL clubs with stars signed to similar deals.


Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis has confirmed that the league is taking another look at netminder Roberto Luongo's 12-year, $64 million contract, according to a report by The Vancouver Sun.


"We have complied with the NHL request for information and are awaiting further instructions," Gillis said. "Cannot say anything further at this point."

The Canucks aren't alone. In arbitrator Richard Bloch's ruling favouring the NHL in the Kovalchuk case, Bloch apparently compares contracts belonging to Chris Pronger, Marc Savard and Marian Hossa to Kovalchuk's and suggests that the league is putting them under the microscope.

"The apparent purpose of this evidence is to suggest that the league's concern is late blooming and/or inconsistent." Bloch wrote in his ruling. "Several responses are in order: First, while the contracts have, in fact, been registered, their structure has not escaped league notice: those SPCs (Standard Player Contracts) are being investigated currently with at least the possibility of a subsequent withdrawal of the registration."

Each of the above players will be 39 years old or over by the time their contracts expire, and their annual earnings drop significantly in the final years of their deals.
Luongo, who signed his deal last September, is set to earn $57 million in the first eight years of his contract and only $7 million in the last four. The deal would see him play until the age of 43 with a cap hit of $5.33 million.

Pronger's seven-year, $34.45 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, signed in July 2009, will earn him $33.4 million in the first five years and lasts until he is 41 with a cap hit of about $4.21 million.

Savard signed with the Boston Bruins for seven years and $28.05 million this past December. At a cap hit just over $4 million, he'll make $25.5 million in the first four years of the deal which runs out when he's 39.

Hossa joined the Chicago Blackhawks in July 2009 after signing a 12-year, $62.8 million contract with the club. He is due to make $59.3 million of it in the first eight years. The deal comes at a cap hit of just over $5.23 million and expires when he's 42.

Bloch ruled in favour of the NHL voiding Kovalchuk's 17-year, $102 million contract with the Devils Monday.

The deal, signed July 20, would have seen Kovalchuk earn $95 million in the first 10 years and $7 million over the last seven, resulting in a $6 million cap hit. He would have been 44 years old by the end of the deal in 2027.

"We want to thank Arbitrator Bloch for his prompt resolution of a complex issue," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. "His ruling is consistent with the league's view of the manner in which the Collective Bargaining Agreement should deal with contracts that circumvent the salary cap."

Devils president, CEO and general manager Lou Lamoriello also issued a statement in response to Bloch's decision.

"We have reviewed and respect arbitrator Bloch's ruling in the Kovalchuk matter," Lamoriello said. "We also note and appreciate his finding that nothing in his opinion should be read as suggesting that either the club or Ilya Kovalchuk operated in bad faith or on the basis of any assumption other than that the Standard Player Contract was fully compliant with the CBA. That has been our consistent position throughout.

"While we do not currently have a contract with Ilya Kovalchuk, discussions have resumed and we are hopeful that a contract will be reached that meets with the principles in arbitrator Bloch's award and the NHL's approval."
As a result of the ruling, Kovalchuk is once again an unrestricted free agent and any team is able to sign him.

The fate of others remains to be seen.

Thoughts?

Bahahahaha. The NHL looks ridiculous right now. The Canucks might actually be hoping the league rescinds the Luongo contract so they can do it by the 5 years.

I truly hope this doesn't lead to another lockout. I can't go through a whole season without hockey.

I think all those teams will want out of those deals..

This is beyond ridiculous. There's no way they should have any right to retroactively nullify any contracts.

They passed them long ago when they had the chance.

Also, if the contracts become void, these players then would become free agents, right? So they could end up walking way from their teams. How is that fair to the team or its fans? When you sign someone you likely have passed on many others, so if a team winds up missing out on a bunch of other players because of it, it sucks.

The Canucks will lose the Cup because of Luongo and his lack of 'clutch'ness - I wonder if they want out of that deal completely?

This is fun.

Would be very interesting to see... might not be a bad idea.. same with Chicago and their $ troubles.. droping 5M in hossa would help a lot

SensGirl11 wrote:I truly hope this doesn't lead to another lockout. I can't go through a whole season without hockey.

I highly doubt it would come to that as the majority of players are doing just fine and it's only the high paid guys that are benefiting from the loophole (well, really their Teams are)

Based on the model of NBA, the NHL will certainly push to put in place a Max year limmit for future contracts. NBA's is 7 years which would sound resonable. The NFL's model of non-guaranteed contracts wouldn't fly... it makes sense for the NFL as a player's career can end on any given play but NBA and NHL career "life expectancy" is much longer.

Chicago is one team that I don't understand. Why did they need to sign a guy like Hossa? yes, he's a good player, but they have a Dung of those guys. They lost a few because of that signing. They also walked away from Niemi in part because of it. The money troubles there are ludicrous, I never understood that signing.

This is unbelievable... nullifying an existing, in-progress contract seems like a monster can of worms. Wow.

shabbs wrote:This is unbelievable... nullifying an existing, in-progress contract seems like a monster can of worms. Wow.

It doesn't make sense that they are allowed to do that. Would it not fall under the breach of contract if it were to be voided? I mean, it's been signed already, 1 year into these contracts...it seems to be an area that should be left alone and the Kovalchuk deal should be the lesson learned.

Oh, and the Pronger deal should not be in there at all, period. He was 35 when he signed...

It says he's 35 now...did he sign after his birthday? Does anyone know?

In the case of Luongo and Keith (and I think 1 or 2 others), they were contract extensions that did not start until July 1, 2010. According to the CBA, the NHL has two months to review from the start of the contract, even though the extensions were signed more than two months ago.

I think Hossa is in the clear.

SG11 - for Pronger, the contract kicks in July 1, 2010 after he is 35. He did sign before he was 35, but it doesn't matter how old you are when you sign. If/when Pronger retires, that number will count.

The way around that of course is for Pronger to simply not report for camp and the team can suspend him or send him to the minors, getting the number off the cap.