When Kovalchuk Was Hobby Gold

There was a time when Ilya Kovalchuk was a hockey card darling.  That's not so much the case anymore.  Fast forward about 18 years and his story doesn't seem to have turned out the way a superstar's should.  In fact, since returning to the NHL, his 43 points in 81 games over the last two seasons wasn't even enough to sniff a King's lineup that sat very near the bottom of the Pacific (not the ocean).  He hadn't played a game since Nov. 9th.

On Dec. 16th, after already receiving a $2.65 Million roster bonus, it was announced that he was put on "unconditional waivers" and had left Los Angeles.  I wasn't sure what exactly a UW was but the move was done for the sole purpose of terminating his $18.75 million contract.  The culmination of that is definitely not a celebrated exit for a three-time All Star, six-time 40+goal scorer, and once hockey card superstar.

77 Million Reasons

In the world of the bizarre and unexplainable, this happened.   Homesickness or not, what was he thinking?

First the crazy contract issues in 2010, the financial penalties as a result, the lost draft picks as punishment...then Parise leaves for Minnesota...now this?  New Jersey could be in for some long seasons if old Lou can't muster up some of his magic.  

They have $6 million to play with now but a hefty recouped salary penalty to pay off over 12 years.  Kovalchuk isn't a guy you can just replace either.  That's like trying to replace a Malkin, Crosby, or Stamkos (or even a Gretzky or Lemieux).  Not impossible, but highly unlikely. 

If you were Lou Lamoriello, what would you do??  

Me personally?? I'd stop signing Russians.  I'm just saying.

And There It Is...

(If I was the ref, I'd hit him in the back of the head too.)

I have been trying for the life of me to figure out why this Kovalchuk mess pisses me off so much.  I didn't even blink (chuckled a little but no blinking) when the Hawks gave that kind of deal to Hossa.  I didn't even notice when the Wings gave it to the D/Z connection, for that matter.  But for some reason, this one bugs the crap out of me.  I guess it is because there is a strong case, at least in my mind, that the power players involved with making this deal were either trying to prove a point or making a mockery of the CBA.  Either way, I called shenanigans from the get go.  I saw this as a ploy to sell season tickets and generate some revenue.  Low and behold...

The New York Times has an article that you can go read here if you want but I just wanted to highlight this little morsel...

"...But the Devils benefited from last week’s news conference at Prudential Center in Newark when they announced that Kovalchuk, an unrestricted free agent, had re-signed. Vanderbeek [Jeff; the owner of the team] said there had been a spike in season-ticket sales since then."

And there it is.

You stay silent for the majority of the free agent signing period.  You come out of nowhere with a ridiculous offer that whether violation of the CBA or not, is shady at best.  You are told before hand that it was going to be rejected by the league but you go ahead and have the news conference anyway.  Season ticket sales spike.  Wow!  And I'm the conspiracy theorist?

I Wish You No Ilya Will

Here comes part two of the Kovalchuk drama.  Well in most people's minds it might be part eight or nine but it's my second post so we are going with part two.

According to the NHLPA.com website...

 “The NHLPA has filed a grievance disputing the NHL's rejection of the Standard Player Contract between the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk. Under the terms of the CBA, the NHLPA and Mr. Kovalchuk are entitled to an expedited resolution of this matter. The NHLPA will have no further comment until this matter has been resolved by an Arbitrator.”

So now what happens?  Are we to expect an ongoing saga that lasts up to the beginning of September?  In a perfect world, the answer is no.  But we all know that the perfect world doesn't exist, otherwise the Red Wings and Penguins would play each other every year for the cup until both franchises cease to exist.

The next step is that the NHL and NHLPA must agree to hire a "system" arbitrator to rule on the case.  But wait a minute, you say.  Didn't the original wording of the CBA call for an arbitrator to be hired when it went into effect with any changes being made annually on September 1?  Why yes.  Yes it did...Only they never hired said person.  So now they must choose someone that is long overdue to be in that position.  This process should be done quickly, as the CBA calls for a ruling within 48 hours.  However, I don't see the league or players association playing nice in this situation.  So at this point, we wait to see where Kovy will be next season.

If the arbitrator upholds the NHL’s rejection, Kovalchuk will become an unrestricted free agent again. He can then either restructure his contract with the Devils or sign with another team.  Of course, the biggest speculation here is whether the 15 year $80 Million contract is still on the table with the Kings.  I would imagine it would be considering it is a much smaller offer in terms of money compared to the deal with the Devils, no pun intended (or maybe it was).

On the other hand, if the arbitrator rules that the deal does not violate the collective bargaining agreement and the NHL was in the wrong to have stopped it, the league must approve and register the contract immediately.  Thus, Kovalchuk stays a Devil until he dies on his skates.  Someone will wonder what the smell is in the locker room one day and find his old, decaying body frozen with rigormortis in front of his locker.

The kicker here is that the Devils have no right to appeal and have to wait for the NHLPA to do everything.  Their only recourse is to fix the contract now before it gets to the arbitrator (whoever that may be).  Otherwise, they are at the mercy of the system, which is unfortunate for the team and the fans.  Again, I go back to my original post on this, and my conspiracy theory about big Lou and his shadiness.
To summarize, the Devils signed Kovalchuk to this 17 year contract last Monday but the league informed them that same evening the contract was going to be rejected.  The Devils plowed ahead with their Tuesday Press Circus, announcing the signing anyway, attempting to force a feeding frenzy in their ticket sales department. 

Neither outcome is going to bode well for either the league, the players, or the fans.  I think it would be the best scenario for Kovalchuk to take the deal he originally got from Medvedev in the KHL for 4 years, $40 Million.  Then, he'd be back home in St. Petersburg playing for SKA, his pockets would be lined with the wealth he always wanted, he would be public enemy #1 with Devil fans, the league and NHLPA could continue to ignore the CBA rule structure, and all will be well with the world again.

A Little Commentary on Kovy

(Eye of the Tiger, boys. Eye of the Tiger.)

By now I think most hockey fans (and non-hockey fans since it is being covered by TMZ) know about the whole Kovalchuk fiasco in New Jersey.  For those of you in the dark, let me do my best at grossly overexaggerating the facts and list the events leading up till now.

Free Agency opens with Ilya Kovalchuk as the highest sought after forward on the list.  There are numerous teams that are interested in his services, many of them a bit gun shy for his contract.  The front runner in all this turns into the LA Kings.  Kovy even goes out there to meet with team owners/management, who wine and dine him and give him the "full LA treatment".  Excited about his prospects, he may or may not have run his mouth about certain things, thus creating a frenzy of "will he or won't he".  Meanwhile, back in Gotham, the Devils sit quiet and do nothing.  No comments, no offer sheets, the virtual appearance of a defeatist attitude of a team on the edge of a decade of rebuilding. 

Fast forward a month.  The Kings have been an on-again, off-again contender for the last 30+ days and no one really knows more than sheer speculation and conjecture.  Then comes the bombshell.  Out of nowhere, reports fly that Kovy is staying put and will basically retire in Green and Red.  Where did this all come from?  No one discussed the possibilities of him actually staying in New Jersey.  I was all but convinced the Pens would finally be able to put being swept last season by the Devils behind us.  But here we are.  He is back...or is he?

The deal was probably the most ridiculous I have ever seen.  Essentially, it was a 17 year, $102 Million contract.  And you thought Hossa made out in his deal...  Not so much the money aspect, but the time involved is what blew me away.  He rejected a 12 year, $101 Million contract from Atlanta just to give himself an opportunity to go to a contender.  They traded him to New Jersey in February and he did what he was paid to do.  I can't help but think that this was his motivation to rub it in the face of the Great Ape and his 13 year $124 Million he is getting in Washington.  Both hailing from Russia, Kovalchuk will now earn more money than Ovie over the next six seasons with an annual cap hit of $6 Million.

Now obviously, there is no way on Earth Kovy will be playing at the ripe old age of 44 (Who does he think he is, Chris Chelios?).  He isn't going to play for 17 years and I highly doubt his annual average salary will be as low as $6 Million.  But what can anyone do about it?  The collective bargaining agreement and salary cap requirements hardly give the NHL any recourse to do...STOP THE PRESS, THERE'S MORE!!

The NHL has, today (or yesterday, I don't know), REJECTED the deal saying that it is a circumvention of the CBA.  "Under the CBA, the contract rejection triggers a number of possible next steps that may be elected by any or each of the NHLPA, the Player and/or the Club.  In the interim, the player is not entitled to play under the contract, nor is he entitled to any of the rights and benefits that are provided for thereunder.  The League will have no further comment on this matter pending further developments."  All that from the mouth of NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. 

So in layman's terms, this is a retirement contract.  The Devils aren't the first to offer it, probably won't be the last either, but this kind of thing is done all the time for franchise type players so that they can retire on their teams but not let thier waning years affect the team cap.  In this example, Kovy would get $95 million over the first 10 years and $7 million over the remaining 7.  You do the math.  You can see why I said earlier that I doubt he would only make the $6 million New Jersey would be on the hook for based on cap space.  For you legalfiles, here is a link to the CBA and you can read it yourself.

The league felt that this deal was way too overloaded in the first decade and the only way they were allowing it is if it were restructured.  We are most certainly going to see the NHLPA filing a grievance with the league on behalf of Kovy because, I'm pretty sure he liked that contract.  But until that happens, the contract is dead until an arbitrator makes a decision.

This ultimately raises some questions.  The NHL has thus far, done nothing to stop these types of contracts up to this point.  We have all seen players like Hossa in Chicago or Franzen and Zetterberg in Detroit sign these deals with little fanfare and no peep from the league.  Now with a high profile player like Ilya, they finally decide to step in and act.  Seems a little fishy to me, doesn't it?  What can the NHL and NHLPA do to correct the salary cap issues and fix the CBA?  More importantly, is this going to be the catalyst for another labor dispute and the dreaded "L" word (not the Showtime show)?  With the momentum the NHL has been gaining in popularity, I sure as hell hope not.