League either did or didn't pre-approve deal that either is or isn't 15 years/$100MM

by Quisp on Aug 27, 2010 8:34 PM PDT

Source: NHL expected to accept latest Kovalchuk, Devils proposal - Puck Daddy - NHL - Yahoo! Sports
The latest contract proposal between free-agent winger Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) and the New Jersey Devils will be accepted by the NHL, a source close to the negotiation told Puck Daddy Friday afternoon.

i.e. the contract is pre-approved.

The report was confirmed by Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record, who later added the NHL must still do a complete review of the framework and that it is "more than a formality."

i.e. the contract is not pre-approved.

There was -- as anyone who has been following along on Twitter can attest -- a lot of back and forth on what was or wasn't happening today. League did sign off on the framework. No, they didn't. It's 15 years/$100MM. Um, or close to that.

At this point, nobody needs to point out that the difference between 15 years and "close to that" is the difference between a deal and no deal. [MORE...]

If it turns out to be literally $100MM/15yrs, I don't think (as some have commented) this represents the league "wimping out." This whole exercise has always been a game of inches. Fifteen years, especially after the arbitrator's ruling, was always the outer limit of what was remotely possible (given the Hossa contract, taking Hossa to age 42). Thirteen years would be (would have been) all but completely safe, but of course the Devils would have a much harder time making a 13 year deal work. Thus, the need to push the so-called envelope.

It makes perfect sense for Lamoriello to reason that it's okay to take the player to the age of 42, okay for there to be a tail as long as it doesn't dip below $1MM/yr (at rock bottom), okay for there not to be any special NMC accommodations which make it even easier for the team to let itself off the cap hook in later years. In that context, $100MM/15yrs works, provided that the league is willing to be less draconian and allow a Hossified deal, and not require that Kovy be fully Franzened. I imagine (if those really are the numbers) it might look something like:

2010    6
2011    6
2012    9.5
2013    9.5
2014    9.5
2015    9.5
2016    9.5
2017    9.5
2018    8.5
2019    8.5
2020    5.5
2021    2.5
2022    2
2023    2
2024    2

Lou seemed to need a couple years at 6 last time around. Kovalchuk seems to want Ovechkin money for awhile (and may also want the magic number of $100MM total), and the league needs the term and the tail not to be a joke. If Kovalchuk retires after ten years, he would be leaving about $14MM on the table, which is more than last time around, so that counts as a small sacrifice on his part. Lamoriello compromises on cap hit by accepting up to $6.67MM, and the league compromises by not recquiring a max 13 year deal.

I wouldn't be surprised to see 14 years, though. Whatever it is, I can't imagine LL would submit a contract he thought there was a chance of the league rejecting. The plot of this story couldn't get that crazy, could it?

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Are you sure that Lou is in control?

What is the owner was spooked by the KHL reports and wanted a contract submitted to the league? Kovalchuk wasn’t going below $100 million and Lou wasn’t going submit a $100/13 year deal.

Do you really think it took over 2 weeks to come up with a $100/15 contract? They met with the league on Monday and it still took 5 days to submit a contract that wasn’t pre-approved? Seems like a panic move by somebody.

This sure seems like the NJ owner is involved again. Lou is probably just hoping the league will allow this and he will take a couple of shots at another cup before retiring.

by Sydor25 on Aug 27, 2010 8:58 PM PDT reply actions

Here's a nice write up of the day's events:

This time, there has definitely been some communication between the Devils/Kovalchuk and the league leading up to this contract being submitted, so the NHL probably already has an idea of at least some of what the contract contains. The NHL did not pre-approve the concepts in this contract, though, and there is still a review that must take place.

Still, because of the previous communication, I would be surprised if this review took the full five days, but I guess you never know.

From conversations I had today, this is far from a slam dunk for this contract to be approved and the review is more than a formality. Although the Devils and Kovalchuk’s camp apparently feel they have addressed the NHL’s concerns about previous contract structures they submitted over the last two and half weeks, the length of the contract—and because it would end when Kovalchuk is 42 years old—remains a potential sticking point. I was told if it was for fewer than 15 years it would have been more likely to be approved. But, again, the number of years is important for the Devils to keep the salary cap hit down to a reasonable figure while still fulfilling Kovalchuk’s desire for that magical $100 million figure—or at least close to it.

That doesn’t mean that I’m saying the contract definitely will not be approved. I’m saying it’s still to be decided.

http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/fate_of_kovalchuks_future_with_devils_in_nhls_hands/

by Sydor25 on Aug 27, 2010 9:02 PM PDT reply actions