NHL Rejects Ilya Kovalchuk Contract with New Jersey Devils as Circumvention of the Collective Bargaining Agreement

It looks like Lou and Kovy will have to go back to the drawing board to keep the Russian sniper in New Jersey for the rest of his NHL career. After reading about the 17-year, $102 million deal my first though was that is one way to beat the salary cap, and second thought was how can the league let that deal stand. At the end of the contract Kovy will be in his mid-40s and only a small handful of players are able play NHL hockey that long. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the following first thing Wednesday morning:

"The contract has been rejected by the League as a circumvention of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. 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."

New Jersey Devils President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello then said the following late Wednesday afternoon:

"We are extremely disappointed that the NHL has decided to reject the contract of Ilya Kovalchuk. The contract complies with the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. We will have no further comment until the process outlined in the CBA is complete."

So nobody will have any further comments. This should get interesting as training camp approaches. Obviously Lamoriello wants to keep Zach Parise around for a long time as well so he has his work cut out for him. Kovy said money wasn’t the deciding factor. What a joke that is! If that’s the case sign a realistic deal for six or eight years and then take care of winning later.