NHL approves contract with Devils, Kovalchuk - NHL - Sporting News
I can't see the Devils winning another cup any time soon. He would have had a much better chance with the Kings, but I guess he wanted the money more.
And now the fun begins with whom the Devils will be trading to get below the Salary Cap and which teams will be in the trade market. :gossip:
They're 3.5M over the cap and only have 11 forwards signed. I'm guessing they'll try to dump Elias. I hope DL doesn't fall for it. If they weren't light in the C department, I would say that we could probably pry Zajac away from them. How's that for your second line center?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockey53
I'm wondering if they regret signing Volchenkov and Talinder.
maybe but I know that they regret signing RolstonQuote:
Originally Posted by seabass45
Devils could be penalized | NHL Sources
Quote:
The NHL has been given Players Association approval until Sept. 17 to confiscate Devils draft picks and fine the team up to $3 million for its first signing of Ilya Kovalchuk, The Post has learned. The league, however, will not lower the Devils’ $59.4 million salary cap upper limit, one of the possible punishments for cap circumvention.
I have no ill will towards New Jersey for signing him and wish them (and jerseydevil) luck. What bugs me is the constant circus we all have been subjected to. The whole damn thing has left a bad taste in my mouth...like after a night of drinking too much Jameson because there was no Glenlivet.
Not that I have any experience with that.
As far as the trading to get under the cap...Zajac would be a good get, but I think DL waits for camp to see how Schenn will do. No sense trading for him if the kid is ready. Parise would be a dream trade...but I just don't see them letting him go...unless they are REALLY desperate...or maybe at the trade deadline if they are out of it and they can't agree to terms with him. In other words...it's probably a really long shot.
Im sorry, but this whole ordeal stinks to high heaven. If, I was an exectutive of a NHL franchise I would be talking to a lawyer to find out if there was any colussion between the Devils and the NHL. This contract was not subject to the whims of the fair-market. Nobody wanted to give IK the money he wanted, and change the rules to satisfy this one contract for this one player. Why not just try and sign Doughty to a lifetime contract of 225M over 75 years and have a cap hit of 3M until the 2085 season, after all its just one contract for one player. If the NHL doesnt like it, the PA can just negotiate a deal.
The fact that IK has a cap hit of only 6.66M is a joke. Yes it puts the Devils over the salary cap for now, but in 5 years that cap number is going to be average at best. Maybe it's sour grapes but the fact that they get an elite player and don't have to take the hit for getting an elite player is a travisty and not fair to the other 29 teams in the NHL. Im sure if the other 29 teams thought they could get away with this than they would have tried with IK. But the NHL helped one team circumvent the original intent of the CBA and that is wrong.
They've been allowing it for years. This was the first time they even pretended to care.Quote:
Originally Posted by MoWolfe1134
The part I don't like about it, is the it happened, it's like the PA went to the NHL or vice versa and basically said this is it we've had enough. PA was sick of the way this was playing out, and the league was sick of GM's using this tactic. It was like the NHL was saying if we don't put a provision in here and get it done now, we're going to reject this contract, it was almost like black mail.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmytheKing
As fan of the game i'm bothered by the fact that we lost a whole season of hockey, because owners wanted cost certainty, they were tired of teams trying to by the cup, and help the fans hostage so they could their precious salary cap, only to have certain owners and GM's, (ironnically the same ones that were always top 5 in highest salaries in the league) exploit this salary cap that they worked so hard to get, every time they've had a chance to.
It's tactics like this, that make fans of other sports, think the NHL is a joke.
