Devil of a Signing...

ntjacks79 · July 19, 2010

Kovalchuk has signed a 17-year deal which could top $150 million, a source told ESPN.com's Scott Burnside.

jpgr909 · July 19, 2010

At first glance it looks like this puts the Devils well over the cap. If that's correct, then the question becomes, who's now in play from that roster? Either way, this should make things a bit more interesting.

static70 · July 19, 2010

I would think Rolston would be asked to waive his NTC or get sent down?

Maybe Langs and Elias?

Hard to say what NJ is going to do.

shrader · July 19, 2010

I would think Rolston would be asked to waive his NTC or get sent down?

Maybe Langs and Elias?

Hard to say what NJ is going to do.

Rolston signed his contract when he was 35. He counts against the cap even if he's sent down. If they hadn't just brought him in, I would say that a guy like Arnott might be on the list of likely to be shipped out. Zubrus is probably up there though. I hesitate to mention him, but Langenbrunner might be a likely candidate too. He's got one year left on that deal and would be a relatively easy move, but he's such a Lou-type player.

Tyrannustyrannus · July 19, 2010

I've been to Devils game and the arena is never even half full. It's pathetic, I have no idea where they get money to pay their players. If its against the Sabres, the Buffalo fans usually outnumber the Devils fans.

SteamRoller72 · July 19, 2010

Kovalchuk has signed a 17-year deal which could top $150 million, a source told ESPN.com's Scott Burnside.

I'm just glad this NHL style Lebron James fiasco is over. I could care less where he went from a Sabres fan perspective...

Now, does this finally open the door for the long overdue Kaberle trade?

Does the Gagne trade to Tampa open the door for a Lecavalier trade?

Do the Sabres actually sack up and make a play for Frolov or Sharp?

Patrick Sharp is my number one choice by a landslide. Frolov is just another lazy, skilled Russian enigma.

Tom Backyard · July 19, 2010

I've been to Devils game and the arena is never even half full. It's pathetic, I have no idea where they get money to pay their players. If its against the Sabres, the Buffalo fans usually outnumber the Devils fans.

I've been there plenty of times, and you're totally right about the Prudential Center being empty, but

since Newark is still in the NYC metro area, the Devils have a large corporate base to pull from when selling off their executive seats and other types of premium seats.

But, still, of course, a salary cap is a salary cap...

wjag · July 20, 2010

Kovalchuk has signed a 17-year deal which could top $150 million, a source told ESPN.com's Scott Burnside.

Why would any NHL franchise sign up to this? He's good. He's not that good.

PalmTreeMafia · July 20, 2010

17-year contract? That strikes me as a bit...lengthy?

inkman · July 20, 2010

17-year contract? That strikes me as a bit...lengthy?

It's just the newest loophole GM's are using to usurp the CBA's rules. I'm sure the contract is front loaded (paying 8-10 million the next few years) leaving nothing on the backend but a few million spread over several years which in turn can be spread out over the cap twice the remaining years on the deal. So NJ sends Ilya paking with 10 years left on the deal probably absorbing a $500,000 cap hit for the next 20 years. Brilliant isn't it? :unsure:

Maybe there will be ###### to pay for a deal like this but more often than not, teams that have been dishing out large deals have been getting fruitful returns.

Grinder · July 20, 2010

Kovalchuk has signed a 17-year deal which could top $150 million, a source told ESPN.com's Scott Burnside.

What year did you graduate from NT? I'm class of '99

bob_sauve28 · July 20, 2010

It's just the newest loophole GM's are using to usurp the CBA's rules. I'm sure the contract is front loaded (paying 8-10 million the next few years) leaving nothing on the backend but a few million spread over several years which in turn can be spread out over the cap twice the remaining years on the deal. So NJ sends Ilya paking with 10 years left on the deal probably absorbing a $500,000 cap hit for the next 20 years. Brilliant isn't it? :unsure:

Maybe there will be ###### to pay for a deal like this but more often than not, teams that have been dishing out large deals have been getting fruitful returns.

Or maybe they are saying 'screw it,' we won't be running the team in ten years, who cares what the budget looks like then?

Taro T · July 20, 2010

It's just the newest loophole GM's are using to usurp the CBA's rules. I'm sure the contract is front loaded (paying 8-10 million the next few years) leaving nothing on the backend but a few million spread over several years which in turn can be spread out over the cap twice the remaining years on the deal. So NJ sends Ilya paking with 10 years left on the deal probably absorbing a $500,000 cap hit for the next 20 years. Brilliant isn't it? :unsure:

Maybe there will be ###### to pay for a deal like this but more often than not, teams that have been dishing out large deals have been getting fruitful returns.

If they send him packing after 10 years, they face 7 years of a $5.33MM cap hit and 7 more years of $0.33MM cap hit. (Based on the $102MM payment structure Chz came up w/ earlier in the thread.)

Of course that assumes that the way the cap is structured doesn't change appreciably during any of the 2-3 new CBA's that will be entered into before this contract expires. Considering Lamiorello will be an architect of at least the next CBA, don't count on the Devils facing a $5MM+ cap hit when he gets let go.

It also means that they'll only be paying him $0.33MM each year for the last 14 years he ends up on payroll. There might be a team looking to stay below the Cap floor that would take those payments to be able to have their payroll look $5MM+ larger on paper than it actually is. (Again, assuming there are no appreciable modifications to the salary cap. Likely, a poor assumption.)

PalmTreeMafia · July 20, 2010

It's just the newest loophole GM's are using to usurp the CBA's rules. I'm sure the contract is front loaded (paying 8-10 million the next few years) leaving nothing on the backend but a few million spread over several years which in turn can be spread out over the cap twice the remaining years on the deal. So NJ sends Ilya paking with 10 years left on the deal probably absorbing a $500,000 cap hit for the next 20 years. Brilliant isn't it? :unsure:

Maybe there will be ###### to pay for a deal like this but more often than not, teams that have been dishing out large deals have been getting fruitful returns.

Interesting. If Kovalchuk suddenly becomes injury-prone or decides to coast for the remainder of his career, there will most certainly be heck to pay. But I guess in that case, NJ simply buys out his contract. They can absorb the loss of all that money because they're in a big market.

Darcy "Small Market" Regier, on the other hand, will likely not operate this way. As it stands now, the Sabres have only 8 players signed beyond this season:

4 years: Vanek, Pominville, Miller

3 years: Roy, Leopold

2 years: Myers, Gaustad, Hecht

This of course doesn't include Kennedy, Kaleta, and the likely Portland grads (Weber, Ennis, Gerbe). The only albatross of a contract I see in this bunch is Pominville's.

nfreeman · July 20, 2010

Here are the deets on his contract: linkage

annual cash is: <div> </div><div><span style="font-size:7.5pt;

font-family:Verdana;color:#444E5C">2010-11: $6 million<br style="border-style: