September 4, 2010, Ilya Kovalchuk contract story for HockeyPrimetime.com

Kovy finally a Devil after NHL and NHLPA agreement

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Written by Denis Gorman

Saturday, September 04, 2010 13:57

The summer-long Ilya Kovalchuk saga has come to an end as the 27-year old left wing will be a New Jersey Devil for the next 15 years. The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association agreed early Saturday morning to apply new guidelines as it pertains to long-term contracts and the salary cap. Part of the accord included the NHL allowing the 15-year, $100 million pact the Devils and Kovalchuk’s representative filed with the league in late August, along with canceling inquiries into the contracts of Marian Hossa, Marc Savard, Roberto Luongo and Chris Pronger. The agreement states that the average amount of long-term contracts—determined to be pacts that are five years or longer—which last up to and beyond a player’s 41st birthday will be the total amount divided by the number of years. Also, contracts worth more than $5.75 annually in the largest payment years, the minimum players who are 36 and older can earn is $1 million. “We're pleased to be able to establish clearly-defined rules for these types of contracts going forward and just as happy we can turn the page on uncertainties relating to several other existing contracts. From start to finish of this multi-week process we were able to work closely and cooperatively with representatives of the Players' Association, who shared our belief that the creation of definitive rules and guidelines in this area would be beneficial to everyone – Clubs and players alike,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a joint statement with NHLPA Director of Salary Cap and Marketplace and Associate Counsel Roland Lee. “We are pleased to finalize an agreement which ends the League's circumvention investigations and also establishes rules on long-term contracts that will provide players, their certified agents and general managers clarity for the negotiation of new contracts. Turning the page on this process is something that will benefit all parties involved,” said Lee. Among the 10 best players in the world, Kovalchuk has been more than a point-per-game player with 642 points in 621 games entering his ninth NHL season. Outside of his rookie year, in which he scored 29 goals, Kovalchuk has been a consistent 40-goal scorer and, in the 2005-06 and 2007-08 seasons, set and tied his career high of 52. Traded from Atlanta along with defenseman Anssi Salmela and a second round draft pick for prospect Patrice Cormier, Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, a first round draft pick and a second round pick, Kovalchuk recorded 27 points (10 goals and 17 assists) in 27 regular season games with the Devils. He was the Devils best player in the first round playoff loss to Philadelphia, scoring six points (two goals and four assists) in the five games. Kovalchuk and his representation received offers from multiple NHL organizations and the KHL St. Petersburg once the July 1 free agency period began, along with taking NBA-style informational meetings, before signing a 17-year, $102 million pact with the Devils on July 17. The franchise and player held a press conference at The Prudential Center on July 20 to announce the agreement. However the NHL voided the pact not 24 hours later. The Players’ Association filed a grievance against the league but arbiter Richard Bloch ruled on August 5 that the contract would have circumvented the salary cap. Now that Kovalchuk is officially in the fold, the truly heavy lifting begins for GM Lou Lamoriello. The Devils are over the $59.4 million salary cap and, as such, have to shed salary. The Record of Hackensack calculated that the Lamoriello will need to eliminate a minimum of $4 million and a maximum of $6 million to get under the cap and still have room to be able to add players from other organizations as need be. The most obvious candidates to be traded away from Newark or shipped to AHL Albany are Dainius Zubrus (due to make $3.4 million the next three years) and Bryce Salvador (due to make $2.9 million the next two years). You can follow us on Twitter @DenisGorman

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