I have to admit when I seen how the contract was structured I couldn't believe they would get by with doing a contract like that, and get away with it. The Leagues put a salary cap in place for a reason, and if teams were going to be allowed to do contracts like this, it would just create chaos from here on out with future contracts.
Now I think it's getting down to planning...how much can we afford to pay Kovalchuk per year while A) fielding a full roster of NHL players and B) keeping enough wiggle room to sign Parise to a real contract in a couple years.
Now I think it's getting down to planning...how much can we afford to pay Kovalchuk per year while A) fielding a full roster of NHL players and B) keeping enough wiggle room to sign Parise to a real contract in a couple years.
As much as I like seeing a wrench thrown in this deal, the NHL has an egg on its face with it. There's no difference between this deal and Hossa's. Or with some others. It's a band-aid on the bullet wound known as the CBA loophole.
I'm amazed... but of course this was the only right thing to do. I guess everyone agrees on that, except maybe a few Devils fans. They really should have rejected Hossa and Pronger deals too, but this was so over the top that it was laughable.
I'm kinda proud the Wild didn't try pull crap like this with Mikko's deal...
Works for me because this deal took the cap circumvention to a whole new level. It's just not realistic between the years of the deal (where Kovalchuk would be 44 when finished - two years longer than any other one) alongside having 1/3 of the deal being the basic minimum (which is also 2-3 years longer than most of these deals).
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Blog: First Round Bust: A Cast of Thousands celebrating a rather dodgy track record of Minnesota Wild Drafting.
"Will beats skill when skill doesn't have enough will."
-Doug Woog
Great for the league to take a stand, finally they aren't hiding behind the "well it's not in the rules" excuse.
I'd like to see in the next CBA a mandate that no yearly salary be less than 50% of AAV. I'd also like to see them do away with guaranteed contracts and allow for performance bonuses for all players.
The Wild structured Koivu's deal on the up and up and everyone outside of Wild fans complained about his cap hit...good for the league not to allow the crap contract.
FYI, if you take out the bogus years, most of those long term deals cheap the cap by 1.5-2m per player. Makes it a lot harder on the small market teams and those who play by the rules.
Cheating always makes it harder for those that don't. Yet, the proof always comes out in the end.
There are so many examples to point at where you learn the lesson from the mistakes made either by yourself or around you. Good for the league in stepping up and saying "this is a mistake, don't eff us like this".
I'm in the distinct minority in thinking that the NHLPA will not contest this and Kovalchuk goes back to being a free agent.
Shouldn't really be that hard for the Devils to figure something out. Maybe just make it 15 years, since Dipietro got that many and 42 is as old as Hossa will be when his contract is up. Really stupid if the contract is along the CBA guidelines to try to prevent it. Can't really blame GMs for using the CBA to their advantage.
Maybe after they seen the Wild sign Koivu to his great deal. And seeing how the Wild actually followed the rules in doing so, the NHL decided it had better start enforcing it's rules, and stop the teams that are looking for loopholes to get an unfair advantage. It's hard for those who play by the rules to compete against cheaters.
Maybe after they seen the Wild sign Koivu to his great deal. And seeing how the Wild actually followed the rules in doing so, the NHL decided it had better start enforcing it's rules, and stop the teams that are looking for loopholes to get an unfair advantage. It's hard for those who play by the rules to compete against cheaters.
Other teams have gotten away with it, so why try to stop it in the middle of the CBA? The CBA is the problem, the GM(s) are just following the rules.
Other teams have gotten away with it, so why try to stop it in the middle of the CBA? The CBA is the problem, the GM(s) are just following the rules.
It should have been stopped a long time ago. 2 wrongs don't make a right, either does 5 wrongs. At least the NHL is starting to clamp down now, better late than never.
2. So what? If New Jersey wants to structure the contract like that, *it's allowed*. Do you really expect Hossa to play the last few years of his contract? I expect Pronger, Zetterburg and Franzen to actually play their contracts. Hossa, no. Luongo, NO.
3. Is it clearly cap circumvention? Yes, but... All Kovalchuk has to do is say that he intends to play the duration of the contract and guess what? Last I checked, crystal balls don't actually work.
Simply put, Bettman and the NHL screwed up. The owners and GMs and Players are making them pay with these ridonkulous contracts.
Yes. They are "cheating". However, if the cheating is allowed in the rules, does it really become "cheating"?
Put aside the ethical considerations for a moment...
If something is currently allowed under the law, and you do said action, do the cops have a right to arrest you based on a future law that may be passed?
Hell, if the NHL is allowed to make this decision, cops everywhere should be stopping and writing massive tickets anyone going the speed limit, because the state MAY drop the speed limit in the future...
The fans are the ones that are going to pay for this ****. Can you say LOCKOUT?
2. So what? If New Jersey wants to structure the contract like that, *it's allowed*. Do you really expect Hossa to play the last few years of his contract? I expect Pronger, Zetterburg and Franzen to actually play their contracts. Hossa, no. Luongo, NO.
3. Is it clearly cap circumvention? Yes, but... All Kovalchuk has to do is say that he intends to play the duration of the contract and guess what? Last I checked, crystal balls don't actually work.
Simply put, Bettman and the NHL screwed up. The owners and GMs and Players are making them pay with these ridonkulous contracts.
Yes. They are "cheating". However, if the cheating is allowed in the rules, does it really become "cheating"?
Put aside the ethical considerations for a moment...
If something is currently allowed under the law, and you do said action, do the cops have a right to arrest you based on a future law that may be passed?
Hell, if the NHL is allowed to make this decision, cops everywhere should be stopping and writing massive tickets anyone going the speed limit, because the state MAY drop the speed limit in the future...
The fans are the ones that are going to pay for this ****. Can you say LOCKOUT?
A few things. First off, a lockout is not possible. The CBA clearly states that under no circumstance can a lockout be possible during the current CBA. So at best, they'd have to wait until '12-'13 (I think).
Second, Pronger's contract has absolutely nothing to do with this. It's a 35+ contract, and is handled entirely differently than the other contracts mentioned.
Third, Hossa's is the nearest to this, but look how it's structured. He's set to make 8 mil in his final five years. Kovy would be making 2.75 mil, and what will likely be sub league minimum per year salary for the last four (if not five) years of his deal.
It's becoming an issue of intent. The NHL investigated the Hawks and Hossa for his deal. They felt that both parties at least thought that Hossa intends to play out the contract. It's not unheard of for a player to play to 42, though admittedly it's certainly unlikely.
Lou himself flat out said that deals like what he offered to Kovy shouldn't exist. It leads the NHL to believe that both the Devils and Kovy don't believe he's going to play out the contract. And if a contract is signed with the explicit intent to not be played to it's end... That's cap circumvention.
A more concise example:
Quote:
I don't understand how people don't see the differences between Hossa/Luongo and Kovalchuk's contract.
Kovalchuk's contract goes an extra 2 years (to age 44, rather than 42).
Over the last 5 years he is paid $2.75m. Luongo, over the last 5 years of their contracts, will make $13.714m (5x as much!). Hossa, over the last 5 years of his contract, will make $8m (2.9x as much!).
The NHL investigated the Pronger, Hossa and Luongo contracts. Hossa's barely squeaked by their non-standard standards. The Franzen and Zetterberg contracts were *not* investigated, but they are more similar to Hossa's.
Yes, there won't be a lockout until the next time the CBA is up for vote. I wasn't suggesting that there would be one before that.
I know the ethical implications of this contract. I can pretty much tell you that the intent was to circumvent the cap. It's pretty clear.
My point, however, is from a legal point of view, the NHL really doesn't have a leg to stand on if the NHLPA contests it.
Yes, it makes me mad. I'm not mad at anyone or thing in particular, though. It's clearly a contract made to circumvent the cap, but there's NOTHING in the current CBA to prevent it.
The amount of money at the end of the contract is part of a straw man argument against, at best.
Comparing the front loaded contracts based on the ending salaries isn't an apples to apples comparison. Hell, Kovie could have signed a contract which had 10 million in bonuses for his first 4 seasons with an annual salary of 8 million which diminishes to 550k the last four...
I have to agree with Lou here. Contracts like this shouldn't be *allowed* but they *are legal*.
Edit: Again, I have to voice the opinion that the NHLPA isn't going to touch this and Kovalchuk is going back to free agency. It will prove to add more fuel to the fire of a work stoppage for the next round of CBA debates.
