Home
Publications
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Luongo+contract+could+void+Friday/3471905/story.html
The NHL could move to void Roberto Luongo's contract as soon as Friday, a report revealed late Wednesday.
The NHL and the NHLPA appear on a collision course over Ilya Kovalchuk's latest deal and Luongo's contract is being offered up as collateral damage.
The New Jersey Devils, the league and players' union moved Wednesday's deadline — to agree to or reject Kovalchuk's $100-million, 15-year deal — to Friday. The NHL extended the deadline because it is negotiating with the NHLPA in an effort to close a gaping hole in the CBA which has allowed teams to circumvent the spirit of the salary cap with front-loaded, long-term contracts.
For now, the NHL says it will only register the Kovalchuk deal if the union agrees to some unpalatable demands which change CBA rules. If the demands aren't met, the league is threatening to reject Kovalchuk's deal, de-register Luongo's 12-year, $64 million contract and formally investigate Marian Hossa's.
The Luongo and Hossa contracts are the only two mentioned — along with Kovalchuk's proposed deal — even though the NHL has 11 long-term deals which end with the player making $2 million or less. Luongo's deal does not begin until this season starts.
Two of the NHL's demands regarding Kovalchuk were reported late Wednesday.
In the first, the league would no longer use the years after the player is 40 years old to calculate the average cap hit on long-term deals. It would mean the contract years after a player is 40 years old would essentially be lopped off when calculating the average cap hit.
This would be a big concession for the players.
The second demand has some negotiating wiggle room. The NHL wants a new formula which would increase the cap hit on long-term deals during the five years the player is paid the most in salary.
The NHL has already been negotiating with NHLPA advisor Donald Fehr working toward a settlement. There has already been speculation Friday's deadline could be extended so the two sides can work out a deal. To get it done, both sides would have to make some concessions.
If they do, Luongo's deal and others, including Kovalchuk's, will be grandfathered in.
If they can't, Luongo's deal could then be voided. The Canucks have long understood this was a possibility.
Before the Luongo deal was signed, the NHL advised Vancouver to take two years off of the negotiated term, making the deal a decade long. The Canucks chose to keep it a 12-year deal and the NHL only conditionally accepted the contract.
As part of the condition, the Canucks were investigated by a third party law firm. Both GM Mike Gillis and assistant GM Laurence Gilman were questioned for several hours in an effort to determine whether the deal was negotiated in good faith.
If the league had found any wrongdoing, it would have likely acted on it by now.
If the contract is de-registered, the NHLPA can grieve the decision. The Canucks would not have standing in an arbitration hearing, but believe the case for Luongo is much stronger than the one for Kovalchuk's 17-year, $102-million deal which was rejected by the league.
Arbitrator Richard Bloch sided with the league in the subsequent Kovalchuk hearing.
There are a couple of key differences in Luongo's deal. He averages $1.2 million during the last 3 years where Kovalchuk was making less than $1 million.
True, it's nowhere near the $10 million he makes now. But Marty Turco will make $1.3 million this year. Last year, he earned $5.7 million. In the final three years of his career, Dominik Hasek averaged $1.4 million after averaging $7.7 million in the five previous years.
Luongo also does not have a no-movement clause, something Kovalchuk's deal had for the first 12 years. In the final five years of his deal, Kovalchuk's no-movement shifted to a no-trade and that shift was seen as an escape clause by Bloch.
Even if Luongo is a better case, can the NHLPA stomach going into another arbitration hearing where it would risk another embarrassing loss?
Finally, even if all of these what-ifs happened, Canucks fans should not be hovering over the panic button. The Canucks would just be in a position where they would have to re-negotiate Luongo's deal
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Luongo+contract+could+void+Friday/3471905/story.html#ixzz0yOp6FH2U
The NHL could move to void Roberto Luongo's contract as soon as Friday, a report revealed late Wednesday.
The NHL and the NHLPA appear on a collision course over Ilya Kovalchuk's latest deal and Luongo's contract is being offered up as collateral damage.
The New Jersey Devils, the league and players' union moved Wednesday's deadline — to agree to or reject Kovalchuk's $100-million, 15-year deal — to Friday. The NHL extended the deadline because it is negotiating with the NHLPA in an effort to close a gaping hole in the CBA which has allowed teams to circumvent the spirit of the salary cap with front-loaded, long-term contracts.
For now, the NHL says it will only register the Kovalchuk deal if the union agrees to some unpalatable demands which change CBA rules. If the demands aren't met, the league is threatening to reject Kovalchuk's deal, de-register Luongo's 12-year, $64 million contract and formally investigate Marian Hossa's.
The Luongo and Hossa contracts are the only two mentioned — along with Kovalchuk's proposed deal — even though the NHL has 11 long-term deals which end with the player making $2 million or less. Luongo's deal does not begin until this season starts.
Two of the NHL's demands regarding Kovalchuk were reported late Wednesday.
In the first, the league would no longer use the years after the player is 40 years old to calculate the average cap hit on long-term deals. It would mean the contract years after a player is 40 years old would essentially be lopped off when calculating the average cap hit.
This would be a big concession for the players.
The second demand has some negotiating wiggle room. The NHL wants a new formula which would increase the cap hit on long-term deals during the five years the player is paid the most in salary.
The NHL has already been negotiating with NHLPA advisor Donald Fehr working toward a settlement. There has already been speculation Friday's deadline could be extended so the two sides can work out a deal. To get it done, both sides would have to make some concessions.
If they do, Luongo's deal and others, including Kovalchuk's, will be grandfathered in.
If they can't, Luongo's deal could then be voided. The Canucks have long understood this was a possibility.
Before the Luongo deal was signed, the NHL advised Vancouver to take two years off of the negotiated term, making the deal a decade long. The Canucks chose to keep it a 12-year deal and the NHL only conditionally accepted the contract.
As part of the condition, the Canucks were investigated by a third party law firm. Both GM Mike Gillis and assistant GM Laurence Gilman were questioned for several hours in an effort to determine whether the deal was negotiated in good faith.
If the league had found any wrongdoing, it would have likely acted on it by now.
If the contract is de-registered, the NHLPA can grieve the decision. The Canucks would not have standing in an arbitration hearing, but believe the case for Luongo is much stronger than the one for Kovalchuk's 17-year, $102-million deal which was rejected by the league.
Arbitrator Richard Bloch sided with the league in the subsequent Kovalchuk hearing.
There are a couple of key differences in Luongo's deal. He averages $1.2 million during the last 3 years where Kovalchuk was making less than $1 million.
True, it's nowhere near the $10 million he makes now. But Marty Turco will make $1.3 million this year. Last year, he earned $5.7 million. In the final three years of his career, Dominik Hasek averaged $1.4 million after averaging $7.7 million in the five previous years.
Luongo also does not have a no-movement clause, something Kovalchuk's deal had for the first 12 years. In the final five years of his deal, Kovalchuk's no-movement shifted to a no-trade and that shift was seen as an escape clause by Bloch.
Even if Luongo is a better case, can the NHLPA stomach going into another arbitration hearing where it would risk another embarrassing loss?
Finally, even if all of these what-ifs happened, Canucks fans should not be hovering over the panic button. The Canucks would just be in a position where they would have to re-negotiate Luongo's deal
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Luongo+contract+could+void+Friday/3471905/story.html#ixzz0yOp6FH2U
I won't accept another lockout! 
LOCKOUT 
