The Ilya Kovalchuk & Second New Jersey Devils Contract Discussion Post
by John Fischer on Sep 1, 2010 1:00 AM EDT
in Devils Issues, Views & Analysis
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PrintWelcome to an open post for the second Ilya Kovalchuk contract with the New Jersey Devils. The first contract was rejected, grieved by the union, and ultimately the rejection was sustained by an arbitrator. After additional negotiation and talks, the Devils submitted a second contract to the NHL on Friday. Per the CBA, the NHL has up to five days to approve or reject the contract. If the league takes no action at 5 PM, then the contract would be accepted as-is. Though, according to Tom Gulitti, that's not likely going to happen.
So far, the NHL has done nothing. The most recent bit information on Tuesday comes from Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet, who got a year-by-year breakdown of the contract. Here's a truncation of that list, all numbers are in millions.
6, 6, 11, 11.3, 11.3, 11.6, 11.8, 10, 7, 4, 1, 1, 1, 3, 4
I've offered my take on the whole mess last night. One way or another, there will be some conclusion - whether Kovalchuk will be a Devil for this contract, or whether this contract is deemed unacceptable by the league for some reason. Admittedly, I'm not seeing the problem with this deal; but then, I didn't see a problem with the first one - and my reasoning was thrown into the garbage can of history.
A lot of today's news with respect to the Devils if not the NHL as a whole will be focused on Kovalchuk. So, to centralize it all, please use the comments to this post to discuss any and all things Kovalchuk-related. Nothing else. Kovalchuk-only comments. Want to discuss how this is silly? Go ahead. Want to talk about Kovalchuk as a player? Fine. But no other topics as this is the Kovalchuk discussion post. As a non-exhaustive list of examples: please do not discuss about blogs, reporters, Brian Burke, calling Gary Bettman the oh-so-clever "Buttman," lamenting a lockout/strike in 2012, and so forth. A few more ground rules just to emphasize them:
Please place all updates from Twitter or other news sites about Kovalchuk in this post. Do not make a new FanShot or FanPost, link them here. This way all of this can be confined to one location. Don't link to twitter feeds or blogs, link to the actual tweet or post. The timestamp in Twitter acts as a perma-link; and use the link tool in the comments so long URLs aren't cut-off. Please only link to credible sources (e.g. Tom Gulitti, Rich Chere, anyone at Sportsnet or TSN, etc.) and ignore the fools (e.g. Eklund, NHLSourcesSay, etc.). Please link to actual news and facts, the less clutter and rumors - the better for all who read this site.
Above all, should the deal be accepted or rejected, please follow the rules at all times. That means no cursing should something not go your way. That means no inappropriate content. Supporters of other teams are welcomed, but are expected to behave too. Regulars here should treat them like anyone else. If you can't handle following the rules for whatever reason, then please refrain from commenting until you can. Whatever happens, we'll hope to get a post up during the day. Thanks for reading, I'll be checking in through the day.
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Deal Should Be Accepted!
I don’t see a single problem with this deal, everything that Bloch ruled against has been fixed and way better than the other contracts that are still currently standing. Hossa’s deal is the same exact drop-off of $4M to $1M, and Pronger’s deal is even worse, dropping from $4M to only $525,000. Lecavalier’s deal is almost the same, except the Devils added on a few years and actually raised the very tail end of the deal to $3M and $4M the last 2 years as incentive for Kovalchuk to play his contract through. The NHL doesn’t have much of an argument this time and that’s why i think the deal will eventually go through. It wouldn’t be wise to reject this one, or else they have to void out all the other dealsand cause even more problems, and they don’t want to put themselves in that kind of situation with only one month until the season starts.
After 9 years there is only a $2.5 million difference in each contract (88.5,86). Basically the “Body” and “Tail” of each contract is the same. 88.5 and 13.5 for the old contract. 86 and 14 for the new.
I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
Nevermind. I think the fact that the NHL has approved the Hossa deal is gonna be the reason they will have to accept this. If you look at the two contracts they are very similar. Each one goes to a $4 million base salary before really breaking off.
The Kovalchuk deal goes 10 years and pays $90 million after its $4 million base year. That leaves $10 million in the final 5 years. If you break that down percentage wise it’s 90% and 10%
The Hossa deal goes 8 years and pays $59.3 million after its $4 million base salary year. That leaves $4 million in the final 4 years. Percentage wise that is roughly 94% and 6%.
Without the 5 year $10 million tail in the Kovalchuk contract the cap hit would be $9 million. That means the tail trims roughly $2.3 million off the cap hit. Without the 4 year $4 million dollar tail on the Hossa deal the cap hit would be 7.4 million. So the tail trims roughly $2.1 million off that cap hit.
Of course, that makes sense, but SPCs are evaluated independantly of one another, and the League is, obviously, under no obligation to approve or disapprove deals based on precedent. Nor are they obligated to deregister or otherwise penalize SPCs under investigation, regardless of how similar they are to contracts that are declined.during the open investigation.
Must be nice to have the hypocritical freedom the NHL does.
Yep exactly, so since the new Kovy deal is less front loaded than Hossa’s and the others, this deal should go through, or else they would have a huge mess on their hands. They just need to accept that there is a loophole, and let the contract go, and address the problem when the new CBA talks start.
by HockeyDude628 on Sep 1, 2010 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions
I guess my only question is, do they really need the full five days to approve or reject the deal? I can understand wanting to be thorough, but this whole process must be tiresome for them too, right? And it’s certainly wearing the fans down.
This Deal Has Placed The NHL in a Corner
A strategic move by the Devils and Lou. The NHL has accepted several other deals that can be considered more of a circumvention of the cap than this Kovy deal. Therefore, at the very least, if the NHL rejects this deal it must move to void the other contracts or else they could very well have a lawsuit for discrimination and bias on there hands coming from the Devils.
Marc R.
Like I said before, the Devils organization are true competitors on and off the ice.
I agree with your assessment 100% though. The amount of time that the NHL is taking to analyze this contract gives me the impression that they are going over this contract with a fine tooth comb trying to find a reason to reject it. Call it conspiracy against the Devils or whatever you want bit I just get the feeling that the NHL dosen’t want Kovy with the Devils. I would be extremely shocked if they reject this contract though.
A game of Chess is like a sword fight....you must think first....before you move.
by LoNJDTechnology on Sep 1, 2010 8:03 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I think that Lou and the Devils organization expected the first contract to be rejected.
The fact that they were trying to circumvent the salary cap was too obvious. I also think that the contract that is currently under review was already completed at the time that the first one was under review. I agree with those comments above suggesting that it would be extremely difficult for the NHL to reject the current contract. They made thier stance quite clear as to why they rejcted it and if the current contract addressed those issues and the NHL still rejects it, then they will expose their desire not to see Kovy as a Devil. Ingenius move Devils. This is one of the reasons why I am a fan.
A game of Chess is like a sword fight....you must think first....before you move.
by LoNJDTechnology on Sep 1, 2010 8:11 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I’ll be bitterly disappointed if the league took the full five days only to reject this contract. I’ve been in a nervous state of anticipation on and off for the past four days. Because hope springs eternal, I’m holding out that the league’s stalling to the eleventh hour means that the concerns contained in Richard Bloch’s ruling have been taken care of by the Devils in this new contract, and though the league might not like it, they can’t reject it without also rejecting several other contracts similar to it. I just hope the league will learn to leave well-enough alone and just let the deal go through, but I’m not very confident. As I said in another thread, the league has done far stupider a thing and survived.
Do you think IK is actually looking for 100M? I think he might have taken a cut in money in my opinion. I think the 3 and 4 at the end of the deal are to make it not look like a retire contract and that’s about all. My guess is that he will retire once the 1M a year kick in and just forget about the tail end money. Maybe IK wanted a shorter deal like 13 years but the cap hit was to large so Lou added the 1,1,1,3,4 to lower the cap hit and also the tail up doesn’t look like they are trying to circumvent the cap at all. At least thats what it looks like to me.
Quisp at JftC may be obsessed with the whole thing, but I think he’s right that Kovy is focused on the appearance of a $100M deal rather than the actual dollars. He may be planning to bolt when things get to $1M per, and jsut forgo the last $10M. He may decide that he can still play and do so. The Devils may be getting a “bargain” during the high years, but if he plays the cheap ones, they are taking a huge cap hit for a player that may or may not be worth that much at that point. Such is the nature of long term contracts.
One way or the other, I hope this is the last day we have to go through this. He ends up in NJ or heads to KHL. We’ve got a little over 2 weeks before camp, it sure would be nice to know who’s going to be on your team heading into it.
ha yea he def is obsessed. I also think he could be right though. Looking at the numbers and the way he explained it makes sense. Your right though if he does play out till then end I think it’s a bad deal for the devils for that much cap hit. Has their even been a player over 40 that makes 6.66 cap hit?
I really hope this is all over today as well. I want to start seeing our season roster take place now once this goes through. I’m sure Lou has some deals set up for some players to leave short after this is settled.
Over the next 10 years the cap should increase somewhat
Inflation should make the 6.66 cap hit less significant if Kovalchuk chooses to play it out to get the last $10 million.
But it could also go down...
hasn’t it done so already?
Thanks for the info.
I also thought that one concern for the coming CBA was that the cap number, or formulae used to determine it would change, resulting in a lower cap.
It should keep increasing, making big purchase now easier to swallow a few years down the road, much the same way a chunky mortgage hurts for the first few years, but gets easier to swallow as the time goes by.
that’s possible but it doesn’t seem likely.
this kovalchuk contract to me seems like a microcosm of the CBA battle that’s looming, and i think that’s why this is taking a long time. if the big market teams are all up to the cap when CBA armageddon hits, what incentive do they have to lose a season to get the union to agree to salary rollbacks and a tighter cap system? the big-market teams probably want a looser cap system.
nod
I’m using this year as a sort of preparation for another workstoppage/lockout in the NHL. I’m trying to get back my pre-hockey interest in the NFL. Last time I cared, Joe Montana was the greatest QB to play and I could root for the 1-15 Colts without being a band-wagoner. At least there’s a guy wiht $1M hair now. Maybe I’ll cheer for him. My wife’s whole family is from Pittsburgh, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.
Do the Bucaneers still suck?
The NFL is about to play its last season before its BIG lockout, and even if you become desperate enough to turn to basketball, they are headed for a lockout before the NHL’s CBA expires too.
by Prometheus74 on Sep 1, 2010 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
In the words of several characters from Monty Python’s Holy Grail…
GET ON WITH IT!
Devils fan for 23 of the 29 years I've been alive. Devils fan until the day I die.
by Marty 4 Prez on Sep 1, 2010 8:51 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I’m beginning to feel like the king of the castle in the swamp. Eventually, one of these castles will stay up.
Through the last few years the current Management that runs the NHL has shown itself to be little people trying to emulate the NBA business model and ultimately destroy the game of hockey. Does anyone reading this really have any confidence that NHL will approve the Kovy contract today ? Bettman the vindictive little man that he is will make sure in his own way that we get the worst ref’s in the league and all questionable calls will continue to go against the Devils !
Honestly, no I don’t. I want to, but I just can’t, given the events leading up to this point.
I can imagine the message from the League will be something along the lines of, “Well guys, we’re going to have to turn this one down. Strike 2. We appreciate that you came and checked with us first on the framework, so we’re not going to fine you from the last arbitration. I’d suggest you ask the NHLPA nicely not to file an appeal this time. It could get ugly, even if you are awarded Mr. Kovalchuk. No statute of limitations on them fine’s you know. You got one more shot at this. Make it close to the magic number in my head and we’ve got a deal.”
13 years, $7M cap hit will fly. Not convinced this one will, exotic structure and all.
Hopefully I’m wrong and it’s over today.
You know, I’m sure a lot of teams have fans that complain about how the league is out to get them, but sometimes I truly feel that Bettman is out to get the Devils. He’s never liked this organization, and you can go back to the disallowed goal against Pittsburgh, the almost relocation following the 95 SC win, etc., the league has hated on the Devils.
Sometimes, though, I feel that a) Bettman doesn’t care. He’s from DAVID STERN’s NBA, who in their right mind installs a commissioner from David Stern’s NBA?! I won’t use the language I normally do discussing this subject, but Bettman doesn’t seem to care. He’s a pretty good actor, too, his interviews make him look like a savior. You know, Bettman supposedly lives nearby probably in Alpine, NJ, and on the morning of the 2007 NYC meetings that almost locked the league out (that seems to go forgotten these days), Bettman was actually late to those meetings. How do I know? A friend of mine caught him at Starbucks and then a tennis court in Bergen County that afternoon…
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions
Yikes
and that just goes to show that the owners only care about their own pocketbooks to hire someone like Bettman and continue to employ him for so many years. Being Commissioner of any sports league should be like being President of the United States. You can only be Commissioner for a few years, then you MUST be replaced by someone else.
who in their right mind installs a commissioner from David Stern’s NBA?
Consider the environment at the time. The NBA was in its ascendancy, the halcyon Bird-Magic-Jordan days, and the NHL wasn’t in such great shape. They went to their rival, crossed Stern off the list, and started going down the “directory” underneath him until they found someone who said “yes”.
It certainly makes sense to poach talent from a successful rival, but it doesn’t always work out well. More often, you end up in ridiculous scenarios like this, because you’re desperate for anything you can take, regardless of what sort of fit it will be…. you just hope that some of the “success” will rub off.
Hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it?
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 11:13 AM EDT up reply actions
Not really...
Stern’s NBA has had quite a long track record of success. It may all be ending soon, but he’s had no lockouts, strikes, installed a salary cap/luxury cap system that placated both owners and player and seen increased growth of the sport and league across the globe. Hate him all you want but those are all things you want from a commissioner.
I have a couple of thoughts on the Kovy deal:
1) Like you John, I don’t think the original deal should have been rejected (based on other approved contracts). I think the league rejected it to make a statement. I don’t think the NHL or the PA expected the rejection to be upheld. (Maybe Richard Bloch has repressed issues from his childhood in New Jersey, or is a Rangers fan.)
2) I think the NHL is ticked about this contract but knows they are pushing their luck if this one gets rejected also. Therefore, the only thing they can do is make the Devils (and the rest of us) wait as long as possible. I expect the league to take no action before 5:00 (so they can say “well we didn’t actually approve it”), or not make a “decision” until at least 4:55 PM.
3) I know a lot of Devils fans would like to see some of the other long term contracts rejected, but (trying to be unbiased), I don’t think they should. Those deals were approved and the teams made roster moves accordingly. If the NHL has a problem with them now, tough, deal with it. (At least the Kovy deal was rejected before the Devils made any roster moves.)
4) Do I think this contract circumvents the cap? Of course it does, but I think the NHL is best to let this one get approved. (See # 2.) To keep these types of contracts in the future, in the next CBA, have annual compensation = cap hit. Therefore $11 million in year 3 = $11 million cap hit in year three. Then teams can front load contracts all they want.
Sorry if I went to far off Kovy, but there’s my soap box for the day. Go Devils!!!!
Having Annual compensation = cap hit opens a whole host of problems where teams can underpay all their players for one particular year so they can have a seriously undervalued roster.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Everything wrong with the Sabres is Drew Stafford's fault.
Agreed. A basketball type ‘soft cap’ might make the most sense. But since that benefits the teams with money, I can’t see that happening.
The basketball cap isn’t soft — it is non-existant. Not just in the way to exceed it, often by spectacular amounts, but the whole concept of “sign-and-trade” to boot.
Also, has anyone watched how the Miami Heat have gone about building their roster this summer? They crammed in three “superstars” at maximum money, and everyone else is making the league minimum. Somehow, I don’t see that working very well in today’s NHL, because you can’t get one of your star players to play 75-80% of the game on a regular basis (unless he is a goalie) and dominate.
Not arguing about the execution. It conceptually, IMHO, makes the most sense, because you can’t just go for 2/3 players and hope to win. Most GM’s should use it as an opportunity to keep drafted talent.
Which is fine, until you recognize that the system doesn’t particularly reward teams who draft well. Free agency — particularly unrestricted free agency — arrives way too early, so you often can’t draft well for several years and maintain that nucleus. That’s one of the advantages of the NBA’s soft cap — you can go over the cap to re-sign your own talent, so it isn’t a case where some other team can simply blow you out of the water with an offer you can’t hope to match.
I’m not saying the NBA’s “soft” cap is good, just that it has its selling points.
That’s one reason why I believe the NFL’s Franchise tag availability would translate very well to the NHL. But the NBA’s idea of a Cap is kind of ridiculous as far as Im concerned.
To me, the NHL’s Cap needs to be softened, slightly, but not to the point of the NBA and certainly not the mess of the MLB.
As it stands now, the NHL has the ‘hardest’ Cap and the lowest ceiling. Those two, just dont go together.
"Don't worry about my Cap." - Lou Lamoriello
There are so many problems with the NBA, but people don’t seem to care. You find a superstar, you’ll get ratings.
Anytime a friend of mine or even I go to an NBA game (other than friends that actually care), I am amazed at the non-intensity out there. College games are intense at times, but I don’t see it in the NBA, players do care in the NHL…
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions
In the NBA it just truly shows that some teams just want to fill the seats, and some teams want to win. The NHL doesn’t really have the luxury of just wanting to fill the seats, because a vast majority of NHL teams need to be winners to have any chance of selling out games, due to the low popularity of hockey in America.
Well that’s part of my Bettman arguement. Execs get nice salaries in the NHL, would it KILL them to have taken a step back and severely marketed some of America’s top players right now: Bobby Ryan, Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, Ryan Miller, maybe Cam Fowler now, etc?! The building blocks are there – the 2010 NHL Entry Draft featured more Americans than in any other year (10 or 11, some sources contradict each other), 21 Americans were selected in the first two rounds, and 59 Americans were drafted in the 7 rounds, from 16 different states. Next year’s top pick (likely) to be, from ARIZONA nonetheless is Sean Couturier. You have to market superstars, especially the players born here.
What are non-hockey fans top complaints about hockey? Some might complain about the lack of goals (which makes no sense, but anyway…) or the three periods or whatever, but also about the foreign-born players. Now the NBA has its share of foreign born players, and MLB certainly does (NFL has a select group, but its American football…), now is a chance to show this country the stars it has.
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Maybe Richard Bloch has repressed issues
I’ve cited Lester Munson (one of ESPN’s legal analysts) in the recent past. Richard Bloch should never have been allowed to arbitrate this case, because he is the textbook example of an “activist judge”, only in sports instead of politics (sorry, I despise activist judges in my politics, too). Richard Bloch has an alarming tendency to ignore CBAs, ignore precedent, ignore contract clauses, and simply re-write the rules and such to fit what he wants to say. That’s how we could spend a month citing parts of the CBA that upheld our case, only to have the arbitrator in question basically throw it all out and declare we were circumventing the rules.
I know a lot of Devils fans would like to see some of the other long term contracts rejected, but, I don’t think they should. Those deals were approved and the teams made roster moves accordingly.
Particularly since some of those contracts have already had a year played under them, I think you open a Pandora’s Box if you go back and void them now. To take an example, Marian Hossa got paid $7.9 million last year and the Blackhawks suffered a “mere” $5.3 million in cap hit. If you void the deal now, do you have to retroactively fine the ’Hawks for being over the cap? Do the ’Hawks say “thank you for extracting us from our salary cap mess” and move along?
I think the best solution if you decide those contracts (Hossa, Luongo, et al) are illegal is not to void them retroactively, but to penalize the teams. Fine them, take a draft pick or two, and dock them some cap space for the next few years…. and then close the book on this issue. There’s no need to go after Philly — Pronger’s extension being snared by the 35+ rule is likely punishment enough for them — but the rest ought to be sanctioned. I can think of only one other thing that needs to be done about those contracts going forward…. if there is another buyout “amnesty” after the next CBA (where you can buy out a player without a cap hit), there has to be a clause to that rule that it cannot be used on particular contracts. Then you name Hossa, Pronger, Savard, Kovalchuk, Luongo, Zetteberg, etc., etc., etc. as specific contracts that fall under this clause just to be safe.
As per #2, I think the NHL is desperately looking for a way to reject this contract without creating a bigger mess out of the situation. And while Gary Bettman would undoubtedly love to stick it to the Devils again, someone else in the League Office must have gotten his ear and given him an idea of the doomsday scenarios that could result from Kovy-to-the-KHL. And while Bettman is technically an employee and advocate for the owners, he is also (theoretically) the steward of the League and its best interests.
One last thought on everyone who has said the KHL will never compete and draw the talent. Can you imagine what the KHL rosters are going to look like if there is a lockout/strike in 2012? We saw all the second-tier leagues around the world get crammed with talent during the last lockout, and there wasn’t a KHL with money to burn back then. I’ll bet they cherry-pick as much high-end talent as they can if there is another work stoppage…. and with the KHL around as another alternative, it would give the players even less reason to compromise and come to a settlement.
Agreed, that was a great article you found. When I looked through Bloch’s Terrell Owens ruling and saw that he utilized the verbiage that this was an ‘extraordinary case’ I felt like he would reject it.
I happen to like reading columns from Munson and Roger Cossack, as they’ll give me perspective that isn’t available in very many places, but is still relevant to the sports world. I could say the same thing about Gregg Easterbrook and how he writes on the NFL, but that’s not particularly relevant to this topic. =)
Take a look at the average cap hit year by year. For a majority of the contract, the cap hit is higher than the final cap hit.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/447626-ilya-kovalchuk-contract-will-it-be-approved
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions
I have a good feeling about today
Then again I did on the last contract.
Joshd12
Brock University
BA. Sports Management, 2014
BA. Recreation and Leisure Studies, 2011
Sounds like a WoW player to me…
Devils fan for 23 of the 29 years I've been alive. Devils fan until the day I die.
by Marty 4 Prez on Sep 1, 2010 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions
I quit May of last year myself.
Devils fan for 23 of the 29 years I've been alive. Devils fan until the day I die.
by Marty 4 Prez on Sep 1, 2010 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions
Discussion Question
Since we are waiting…..
If the deal is rejected, would you want the NHLPA to file a grievance or would you rather the Devils move forward with the team they have? In other words, rejection=No Kovy.
Grievance
I would want the best possible team the Devils can put on the ice. You compliment Kovy with the players the Devils already have and you have a very dynamic and explosive team.
Then again, if they don’t I won’t be too upset because he made it pretty clear that the KHL is where he is going.
Joshd12
Brock University
BA. Sports Management, 2014
BA. Recreation and Leisure Studies, 2011
Hell no. No greivance. I’m fairly certain that given the previous arbiter’s decision, and the structure of this contract, the Kovy 2.0 contract would be upheld in arbitration. Unfortuantely, there is no time limit on the possibility of penalties, and I would not be surprised if the League decided to impose a max cap penalty for the first contract attempt in the event of a second greivance, thereby making it virtually impossible to keep him without the loss of TZ. I’d rather not have that happen. Thank you very little.
I would want them to because I think they would have a good argument, but as history shows, that doesn’t seem to matter when it ends up in the hands of one person to decide.
Considering the team would likely not escape penalties this time if the rejection were upheld, and the fact that the season is rapidly approaching and that whole process could take a week or more, thus putting Lou in an even tougher bind in trying to move salary… if I had final say I’d let it go.
Playing Devils' advocate since 1982.
If this gets rejected and it is either upheld in arbitration again or the NHLPA doesn’t file a grievance in the first place, it would guarantee a lockout with the next CBA. Three lockouts in my lifetime by the time I’m 25? No, thank you. I would rather start watching another league that can keep itself in business.
there’s going to be a lockout anyway, and it’s not going to have anything to do with 15 year contracts
I would like to hope that there won’t be a lockout, but adding the fact that both sides are at each other’s throats about the legality of current contracts will just make things a ton worse.
Lockout, unless leadership changes on both sides. It will (hopefully) happen for the PA, but not the League.
"Don't worry about my Cap." - Lou Lamoriello
It would probably have to go deeper than just getting rid of Bettman. Daly would have to go as well, since he’s just Bettman Jr. I can still dream about the NHL not going into lockout, though…
Jeez, the Devils need to win a Cup before the lockout otherwise Brodeur may be too old to come back.
move forward. if kovalchuk has to have his magic $100 million, then we don’t need him. i think it’s a semi-foolish investment anyway, and while kovalchuk is an excellent player, i don’t see him changing some of the negative things he does on the ice.
I still think the $100M is more important in appearance than actual money.
"Don't worry about my Cap." - Lou Lamoriello
I think I understand the point of the 2 year pay increase. The NHL has stated the Lecavalier contract as being OK. Which is basically saying a contract taking a player to the age of 40 is OK.
The NHL is now unable to suggest that Kovalchuk will retire at any point before 40 without creating a double standard. So now they can only make a case against the last 2 years of the contract. Hence the pay increase.
Hows everyone on this fine Kovy day?
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions
I really hope this comes before 4. I have a tee time at 4:30. lol
Joshd12
Brock University
BA. Sports Management, 2014
BA. Recreation and Leisure Studies, 2011
You do realize this is the NHL you’re talking about??
in other words, don’t count on it.
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions
Daly speaks
"the deadline will not pass without the league communicating its determination." – that is an e-mail sent by Daly according to Tom Gulitti last night (it was reported last night).
I know a lot of you are optimistic about this deal being approved, and logic would agree with you. The deal is slightly restructured. It addresses all of Bloch’s “concerns” with the initial proposal. It keeps a gifted superstar in the NHL, and avoids another potential arbitration hearing that could cost the league the victory it received last time.
HOWEVER, the league has power right now, and I would be very surprised if they approved this deal. The league wants to ‘investigate’ other deals, and should they terminate ONE major deal already submitted, it would be considered a drastic victory for the league.
If I were you, assume the deal is void, dead, over, not happening. That way, if it is approved, we’re all surprised and happy, and the deal gets registered.
I wouldn’t count on it, though, and I am certainly prepared to not have Ilya Kovalchuk in North America this season.
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
The league “investigating” these other deals is just a PR move to try and save face because of the hypocrisy of rejecting Kovalchuk’s first deal without retroactively rejecting a dozen others. They will only take these other investigations seriously if the Devils find a way to force them to. Lou is trying to do just that with this second contract.
Let me see, did I link this tweet properly?
This from Larry Brooks:
“On vacation, will make this observation: NHL understands urgency for Devils and Ilya, so just running down the clock. Arrogance of power. "
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Were the comments that bad that they needed to be deleted? Doesn’t Kovalchuk pertain to the Devils within the structure of the new NHL in a significant degree? Just saying.
"We aim above the mark to hit the mark." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"We're looking at hiring the Red Army choir to perform at half-time along with Russia's top dancing bear collective." -Mikhail Prokhorov
"Don't worry about my cap" - Lou Lamoriello
I made it clear, very clear, that this post is for Kovalchuk-related discussion only. People want to read/discuss Kovalchuk here. Anything else will be dumped. This is not negotiable.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Sep 1, 2010 11:54 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Which I clearly understand. The post I wrote was specifically pertaining to Kovalchuk. If people are going to delete posts that I spend my time writing in order to contribute to the discussions on this board, I’ll just stop writing here.
"We aim above the mark to hit the mark." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"We're looking at hiring the Red Army choir to perform at half-time along with Russia's top dancing bear collective." -Mikhail Prokhorov
"Don't worry about my cap" - Lou Lamoriello
By the way, does anyone else feel that the Devils will be able to move Rolston, but must sacrifice Tedenby? I say Tedenby because the Devils will likely keep Parise and Kovalchuk around, so they keep the centers (Josefson and Henrique) and keep the defensemen?
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
I just don’t see a way that Lou can move Rolston’s albatross of a deal. Even if he were to package a quality prospect with him as incentive, Rolston would have to agree to the move first. If I were him, I wouldn’t want to leave a team that could challenge for a championship to go to a bottom feeder.
You saw that Larry Brooks tweet, right?
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions
We’ve all talked about how there are two ways the NHL could be approaching this: Wait 5 days to reject it to force NJ to give up on Kovy, or wait 5 days in protest of feeling forced to accept it to limit how much time NJ has to clear cap space. Either way, it’s spiteful, vindictive, childish, and is bad for the game.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
Not only that, but it’s angering the rest of the league I’m sure (by that I mean 29 other GMs). a) they need to make moves too b) this is flowing into September now and c) they may be forced to give up a player to sign someone long-term.
It is very poor behavior from the league.
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions
That’s the part that really confuses me. There doesn’t seem to be the outcry from other GMs for this to end that I expected. Anyone who has spoken out has only said bad things about the Kovalchuk contract. Where are the people who agree, or simply want to express to the league that this is holding up everyone else?
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
the next CBA is going to be very interesting, perhaps defined by this summer.
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions
That would be nice
because that would mean no lockout.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
agreed
they’ll wait til the last minute to notify the Devisl about the decision, and it will take time for whatever that decision is to slowly filter out to the press.
Accepted at 4:59:59… To the press at 5:45…. Trade at 5:46
Im calling it
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm holding you to this
otherwise ‘the consequences will never be the same’
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
I have a little off-topic “news” to report, I hope this doesn’t get deleted for being off-topic:
Bill Guerin has been talking with the Flyers?
https://twitter.com/HockeyJoePHT
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
It should be...
You couldn’t post this as a FanShot?
In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils
"Hockey is the only job I know where you get paid to have a nap on the day of the game." - Chico Resch
by Matthew Ventolo on Sep 1, 2010 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Well it’s not a done deal…it’s hardly in the works.
Just pointing out a possibility.
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Howdy everyone…
IMO, the structure of the contract is fine (I really like the big tail of $7m/2yr). The largest decrease from one season to the next is only $3m (twice). I think the issue the NHL has is the length, but like many of you have said, it shouldn’t be. This contract is actually better than Lecavalier’s, Pronger’s, Hossa’s, and Luongo.
In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils
"Hockey is the only job I know where you get paid to have a nap on the day of the game." - Chico Resch
by Matthew Ventolo on Sep 1, 2010 12:10 PM EDT reply actions
and I don’t see how the length could be the problem because it ends at the same age as Hossa/Pronger, and DiPietro got a 15 year deal.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
News alert
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Beat me to it
I was just refreshing TG’s twitter page :P
I guess I should just go do something else for a while, we all know this decision isn’t coming for a few hours.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
this could mean not good things in the future. I have never seen the NHL give a reason as to why they have accepted a contract
Joshd12
Brock University
BA. Sports Management, 2014
BA. Recreation and Leisure Studies, 2011
My prediction for the upcoming hours/days/weeks: NHL rejects the deal (at this point, they have to for their sake…), then I’m not sure the PA goes to arbitration. Look at the state of the PA, they have nothing. Right now the league is probably reviewing what they could argue if it did go to arbitration again.
I do feel that someway, somehow, Kovy will be a Devil. He wants to stay in the NHL, and what other team would put a deal together at this point?
Yankees in baseball, Giants in football and Devils in hockey. It's that simple. I have no off-season.
by DownGoesAvery on Sep 1, 2010 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
A team like the Avs, Islanders, Lightning even can put together a short term contract worth a 7 million cap hit. The NHL would have no problem with that.
I don’t see good things coming.
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Perhaps, but they (a third of the league) could have done this last month.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Sep 1, 2010 12:43 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Devils could be out of it if the NHL fines them..
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions
For that list in particular, other than the rumors (which i find sketchy) of the NYI offering Kovy 10M$, the first two teams have shown no indication of spending any money at all.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Everything wrong with the Sabres is Drew Stafford's fault.
Maybe they’ve been waiting for this? I don’t know. But some team will offer him a short term contract (5 years) if this is rejected.
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
That’s ominous.
In my memory, they don’t generally issue statements when they accept deals, they just accept them.
Playing Devils' advocate since 1982.
Well, i’d think this would be a special situation requiring a statement, in the whole “Making a statement to the media but actually at agents/gms” sort of way.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Everything wrong with the Sabres is Drew Stafford's fault.
That’s what I was thinking. After the last contract rejection, perhaps the league is going to issue a statement explaining why this contract will be accepted. I’m hopeful, but not convinced that this is the case. I’ll be glad when this is all over and we know one way or another. It’s the waiting I can’t stand.
Just a thought...
I think the NHL is using this time to see the implications of this contract and what it would do to Kovy, the Devils, free-agency next year, and the league as a whole. Look at what happens if the NHL decides to reject this deal… (of course, this is all my theory, so dont go searching twitter or whatever for this)
I find it very unlikely that the NHLPA would file a grievance on Kovy’s behalf so close to the start of the season. Kovy himself said that he would go to Russia if the NHL could not accept this most recent deal, so maybe by rejecting this deal and having no hearing they are just buying more time for next offseason. The KHL season starts in a week and Im sure they would love to have Kovy back in Russia. Yeah, the NHL would have to explain themselves and why the deal wasnt approved but, honestly, they can really say anything and wed all be pissed… but the deal still would not go through.
Kypreos Tweets...
Details of the “moving forward” would come with a reluctant acceptance or rejection. At least it’s a potential reason for an announcement of an accepted contract.
my guess by resolution and moving forward is that fehr is totally willing to re-open the CBA and negotiate with the league about providing contract limits, or creating a protocol for very long-term NHL contracts. and i think that’s absolutely the right move for both sides, because neither side wants this to continue next summer. this summer, the NHLPA has looked a lot like kruger’s industrial smoothing from seinfeld – just taking it on the chin indifferently.
the NHL has its arbitrary hammer, but it doesn’t want to take all of these contracts to arbitration, or have to start giving out circumvention penalties.
agreed. we’ve been shouting about the need for some sort of negotiation to define the limits on long term contracts before next summer, and it looks like perhaps now that Fehr is leading the PA, something might get accomplished. Another summer with some big name UFAs and a pile of long term contracts as patterns is what the League is trying to avoid. The question is, how does this bode for Kovy and Devs? Guess we’ll know in under 3.5 hours.
Once kovy is signed (hopefully) I see zubrus being moved so that is can give josefson a spot as 3rd line center.
I liked Zubrus.
If he gets moved I hope we get something decent/equal in return.
Go Devils!
Numbers don't lie, Martin Brodeur
We would. Cap space.
Playing Devils' advocate since 1982.
by elesias on Sep 1, 2010 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
yeah, like room to keep Kovalchuk. Anything else is unlikely.
I like Zubs too. I feel bad that he’s one of the easiest guys to unload for space, but it’s a business.
And he did pretty well last year in the playoffs.
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions
3 HOURS
and counting
Joshd12
Brock University
BA. Sports Management, 2014
BA. Recreation and Leisure Studies, 2011
Still nothing?
Went to Dicks and got shoes and thought something will happen. Ughh
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Tell me about it. I went to the bookstore to try to distract myself and all I could do was check my phone to see if there were any new Tweets about Kovalchuk.
I am strong
I didn’t even take my Blackberry out of the house!
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Something did happen
You got shoes.
Camp Torturella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
Blueshirt Banter - "ARISTH"-Assuming Redden is sent to Hartford
Twitter: RangerSmurf
by George E. Ays on Sep 1, 2010 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Thank you for that
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I decided to
watch some Star Trek. There’s a pretty good fan made show called New Voyages I’ve been getting into. It helped me kill some of the time.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
2 hours encounting.....
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm gonna take a two hour nap
and hopefully, I will wake up to Kovalchuk being a Devil.
by undersuspicion426 on Sep 1, 2010 3:14 PM EDT reply actions
I can’t sleep right now, too nervous about the outcome. I have 4 tabs open just for this right now: ILWT, Fire & Ice, TG’s Twitter, and Chesnokov’s Twitter. I am kinda watching Mythbusters, but I’m commenting here enough that I’m not paying attention to it.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
Tell me about it....
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
BlueSeatBlogs
About time! RT @MichelleKenneth Stan Fischler: Kovy revised, 2nd-time-around contract green light will be flashed by the league.
If you trust Fischler, I think you guys can step off the ledge.
Camp Torturella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
Blueshirt Banter - "ARISTH"-Assuming Redden is sent to Hartford
Twitter: RangerSmurf
Stan Fischler? lol hasn’t that guy made a living off of slamming the Devils every chance he gets? Can we trust his word?
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
That’s why I gave you the caveat. Figured I’d pass that on since it came through my feeder.
I’m rooting for this to go through. Honestly, I tire of the words “Kovalchuk” and “circumvention.”
Camp Torturella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
Blueshirt Banter - "ARISTH"-Assuming Redden is sent to Hartford
Twitter: RangerSmurf
by George E. Ays on Sep 1, 2010 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Isn't he a Ranger fan?
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Glen Sather’s “Mini-me”
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
He does a lot of Devil work though
He answered my question on air about Chris Pronger being a Devil like 2 years.
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions
If you go to the tweet and click on the link to the article, Fischler says:
Ilya Kovalchuk’s revised, second-time-around signed contract had not been officially approved at our press time, but one would assume — should one? — that each side has learned from the other and a green light will be flashed by the league.
If not? Well, we’d rather not think about that unfortunate eventuality and we’ll leave this endless saga at that."
By the way
Looks like Niemi is going to San Jose
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
Whats going to happen with Greiss?
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Sorry
forgot about that feature. I think I’ve only done it once before.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
The NHL is really using every last second possible, huh?
Or are Gary Bettman and Bill Daly too busy planting crops in Farmville?
Devils fan for 23 of the 29 years I've been alive. Devils fan until the day I die.
If they ran Farmville like they run the NHL, their farm would be a barren wasteland in a day.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
Just a little joke...
You guys realize that Kovy’s cap hit would be 6.66 million as a DEVIL?? I just noticed that.
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Haha…I like stuff like this. I hope its an omen that the deal will get accepted. I also enjoy anything the Devils do (purposely or accidentally) that’s satanic.
His cap hit will actually be $6,666,667. Or is it $6,666,666,67? Hey, those 33 cents could help.
In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils
"Hockey is the only job I know where you get paid to have a nap on the day of the game." - Chico Resch
by Matthew Ventolo on Sep 1, 2010 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions
"TG": http://twitter.com/TGfireandice/status/22735256215
Just an update stating that it won’t happen until last half hour
Joshd12
Brock University
BA. Sports Management, 2014
BA. Recreation and Leisure Studies, 2011
4:30-5:00
Great
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Gulitti said last hour. Just clarifying.
In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils
"Hockey is the only job I know where you get paid to have a nap on the day of the game." - Chico Resch
by Matthew Ventolo on Sep 1, 2010 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions
He also said that they are working on some details.
I guess the contract we saw was incorrect. Thanks RealKyper.
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions
He just posted:
In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils
"Hockey is the only job I know where you get paid to have a nap on the day of the game." - Chico Resch
by Matthew Ventolo on Sep 1, 2010 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Unless this is taking that long to weigh the options (and I doubt it), this is the NHL using their power to essentially be little (blank)s. Complete overuse of power.
They’re just trying to leave New Jersey with as little time as possible to do anything after the decision (whatever it ends up being). It’s childish.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
They have until training camp to make a trade right?
Or is it like a week before the start of the season?
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions
NO KOVY FOR YOU!
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
YOU COME BACK
ONE YEAR!
"But yeah…like CC…I harbour no ill will." - VancityDan
C Henrik Sedin #33: Vancouver Canucks Alternate Captain, 2010 Art Ross Trophy Winner and 2010 Hart Memorial Trophy Winner
by Chuckles Canuckles on Sep 1, 2010 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Bettman dodges a bullet there.
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Deadline Extended to Friday, 5 p.m.
NHL, NHLPA extend deadline for Kovalchuk decision
In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils
"Hockey is the only job I know where you get paid to have a nap on the day of the game." - Chico Resch
Those expletives deleted…
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
Eh I think this is a good thing… It means it likely goes through, otherwise why not just reject it today?
I would tend to agree
but why delay it either way? They know what they’re gonna do, so why not just do it? All this secrecy is so frustrating.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
Two things come to mind:
One is that the contract was deliberately submitted on a Friday to hopefully take advantage of the weekend, and two, that something is going on behind the scenes that such a decision would be mutually agreed on by the NHL and the PA.
Playing Devils' advocate since 1982.
Im thinking the latter. NHL might have asked them to rework the last 6 years. Change it from 4,1,1,1,3,4 to 4,4,3,1,1,1. That puts the contract in line with Lecavlier’s.
It was previously stated that the NHL cannot ask them to rework the deal without first accepting or rejecting the one that’s already been presented.
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
Both sides have flouted the rules in the CBA throughout. A system arbitrator was supposed to be permanently in place by April 1 (or by June 1 if the sides couldn’t agree). We still don’t have one, Bloch was a one-time deal. Think about it and forget about it being the NHL and NHLPA and just think of it as a union negotiating with a business. Why does the union agree to this extension?
It ate my reply … anway neither the NHL or NHLPA has completely followed the CBA throughout this process and even before it. The system arbitrator was to be in place on April 1 and if not neutral parties get 60 days to appoint one (June 1). Bloch was a one-time deal and we still don’t have a system arbitrator. They didn’t follow the letter of the CBA then, who’s to say there isn’t a wink-wink now? Forget about it being the NHL and NHLPA and go more general, why does a union agree to an extension like this?
they can’t do that, and the NHL would immediately reject such a deal. the whole reason the contract works the way it does is that the NHL accused kovalchuk and the devils of not wanting to have the deal conclude. well, kovalchuk’s got 7 million reasons to play past his 42nd birthday.
I hope
Hurricane Earl blows into NHL offices.
I have respect for most sports fans with 2 exceptions: NY Ranger fans who grew up in New Jersey, and Dallas Cowboy fans who can't name the capital of Texas.
Ridiculous
I don’t understand why the NHLPA would agree to such a stance. It’s obvious the only reason the NHL would need more time is to determine if they can win if it went to arbitration.
I just don't know anymore...
This will have taken over two full months of round the clock work to sign ONE PLAYER?
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
I honestly think
I would be less upset if they had straight up rejected it. I just want this farce to be over.
Lou doesn’t give up. When he decides he’s gonna do something, he gets it done. The League just needs to realize this and accept defeat already. This all better be because Lou wants more time to work deals before the contract becomes official…
"Everything is status quo." - Lou Lamoriello
"*Heavy groan*" - The Entirety of Devils Nation
that wouldn't make any sense
Lou doesn’t need to be under the cap before the contract becomes official, and I fail to see how this would benefit the Lou or the Devils in negotiating other deals.
Time for Calm
OK, it stinks the deadline was extended but there was no rejection and considering the extension it seems the two sides at least are agreeing on something.
Let’s keep the comments clean.
OMG
Two straight days and they still haven’t made their mind up? See you all friday.
Mathew Barnaby to Lyle Odelein: "Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelious."
Odelein to Barnaby: "He should take a look at his wife. She's God-awful to look at."
by RolliePollieKovy on Sep 1, 2010 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions
What a farce
Im going to depart now, as to not blow my top.
"Don't worry about my Cap." - Lou Lamoriello
This league keeps sabotaging its growth
This type stuff holds back a great sport with the worst commisioner ever
That’s my feeling on it.
That’s why it’s taken this long and why they want the extension. It’s entirely political, which makes a mess of things.
There’s a joke in here about the League violating the CBA by not approving or rejecting this thing but instead using it as a bargaining chip, but I can’t find it.
Playing Devils' advocate since 1982.
If the sources are correct, and NHL and NHLPA are discussing a rule change, would the Kovalchuk contract be subject to the rule or would it be in under a grandfather clause? Words cannot express my anger if the NHL and PA made a new rule tomorrow and the Kovalchuk contract were rejected on the grounds that it doesn’t comply with the new rule.
According to EJ Hradek, Looks like the league and NHLPA are discussing solutions to long-term / circumvention contracts
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