Ilya Kovalchuk¿s 17-year, $102M Deal with NJ Devils Voided

(New York Post) - NHL supertsar Ilya Kovalchuk's $102 million, 17-year contract with the New Jersey Devils was permanently annulled by an arbitration ruling Monday.

Arbitrator Richard Bloch Monday afternoon upheld the NHL's rejection of the Devils' contract with Kovalchuk, voiding the deal and sending him back to unrestricted free agency.

The Devils now will be hard-pressed to reassemble a deal that will satisfy the star winger, the NHL, and the salary cap combined.

Teams like the Kings, Islanders and Rangers could rejoin the pursuit of Kovalchuk, a two-time 52-goal scorer, who at age 27 is arguably the NHL's best-ever free agent.

The Devils actually were not a contending party to this case, but it was all about them, anyway.

The Players Association and Kovalchuk were the plaintiffs against the league's July 20 rejection of the deal signed a day earlier. The union argued the case against the NHL on Wednesday and Thursday before the arbitrator in Boston.

Kovalchuk was traded to the Devils on Feb. 4 in a major deal after he rejected Atlanta's bids of $101 million over 12 years and $70 million over seven years. After coming to the Devils with Anssi Salmela and a swap of second-round picks for Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, prospect Patrice Cormier and a first-rounder, Kovalchuk scored 27 points in 27 games to close the season and led the team with six points in its five playoff games.

His now-voided contract specified the first two years at $6 million, then five years at $11.5 million, then salaries of $10.5 million, $8.5 million, $6.5 million and $3.5 million. The final six years were the issue, when salary fell to $750,000 and five years at $550,000.

Those final six years were key to bringing his cap hit down to $6 million per year, whereas if only the first 11 years counted, the Devils' cap hit would have been be $8.9 million.

The NHL disbelieved that Kovalchuk intends to play at age 44, the final year of his Devils deal, and claimed the minimal salaries of the final six seasons ($3.5 million total), as opposed to the $98.5 million paid over the first 11 seasons, constitutes circumvention.

The Devils now could be liable for a $1-5 million fine and cap-space loss, and Kovalchuk for a fine of $250,000-$1 million.

This ruling can be expected to be used as a precedent for the league to void other front-loaded deals, including ones that have already been accepted and registered.

The Devils are now back to having some $2.8 million left in salary cap room with 20 players accounted for on a possible roster of 30. They were going to have to drop some important players in order to accommodate Kovalchuk under the cap.

Read more: New York Post