Arbitrator rules in favor of NHL in Kovalchuk dispute.
Kovalchuk's 17 year deal is now officially void.
almost 2 years ago
cobracg
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Excerpts from the ruling:
The overall structure of this SPC reflects not so much the hope that Mr. Kovalchuk will be playing in those advanced years, but rather the expectation that he will not.
…The dynamics of this SPC, with particular reference to its final six years, are such that there is scarce reason for either Player or Club to continue the relationship. The incentives are strongly to the contrary.
"It's always good to have vikings."
Proud member of the Oxford dictionary police.
Something smells fishy here..
Nick Kypreos just tweeted the following:
Hearing at this point in time the NHL have no plans to penalize Devils in any manner for being found guilty of circumventing CBA
So even though it was the Devils that made the offer that was deemed as a violation of the rules, they won’t get punished. This, along with Lou L’s original snickering comments at the signing press conference, is looking more like a fake contract offer, made by the Devils in collusion with the NHL, just to see the NHLPA’s defense, and to get a read on what their position would be in 2 years when the CBA comes up.
Call me a liberal/socialist/paranoid, but when the only one that’s losing out on this is the player (who has done nothing wrong) this stinks of a back-room management deal against the union.
"HISTORY DOESN’T MATTER!!! .... Who cares if it’s never been done? We aren’t those teams who failed before. We are in control of our own destiny, and we will make it happen our own way.." - A Gordon, June 2010
One thing you’re mistaken on – the Devils are losing out almost as much as Kovalchuk. During this whole time, they couldn’t really pursue any FA’s due to so much salary being potentially tied up in Kovy.
Never underrate the power of the hissy-cow.
True, they could pursue them – and then tell them they didn’t have the money to sign them. I don’t think they knew it would be rejected – that just seems like a paranoid theory.
Never underrate the power of the hissy-cow.
You’re probably right that it is just paranoia on my part. But the Devil’s lack of comment and commitment to the deal they brokered – now coupled with a lack of punishment by the NHL – still looks strange to me.
"HISTORY DOESN’T MATTER!!! .... Who cares if it’s never been done? We aren’t those teams who failed before. We are in control of our own destiny, and we will make it happen our own way.." - A Gordon, June 2010
So even though it was the Devils that made the offer that was deemed as a violation of the rules, they won’t get punished.
That’s because in order to punish them they would have to be found guilty of intentionally circumventing the rules, which they were not. In fact IIRC, Bloch said in his ruling that he judged the circumvention to be unintentional.
Talk about hedging. Of course it was intentional. And he should have said so.
I am amazed that the majority of comments I have seen in the media favored Kovalchuk and the Devils. Only a couple pointed out that the rank and file should be happy with the ruling.
"It's always good to have vikings."
Proud member of the Oxford dictionary police.
This is great for hockey. And now the Kovalchuk Free Agent Frenzy restarts! I’m calling it: KHL!
A Capital Wasteland - art & hockey from Washington, D.C.
This is interesting but I doubt the NHL is going to void the contracts of either Pronger or Hossa, two guys that were on the teams that made it to the SCF and had an big impact on the games.
6) In a footnote to the decision (footnote 23), the arbitrator indicates that similar contracts signed by Luongo, Pronger, Savard and Hossa are being investigated by the NHL with the possibility of withdrawal of approval (and registration).
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The Pronger deal isn’t even evasive, its just a dumb contract.
I am a hockey fan first, and a Caps fan second.
by iwearstripes on Aug 10, 2010 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions
The last years of the deal look pretty evasive.
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матовая Клими, Михал нуивирт ваш папа теперь
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by red army line on Aug 11, 2010 6:25 AM EDT up reply actions
They do, until the fact that it’s a 35+ contract is taken into account. Then it’s just hilarious that the Flyers screwed up so badly.
Never underrate the power of the hissy-cow.
It’s still evasive, lowering the cap hit. There may be a cap hit, but doesn’t mean Pronger gets paid over those cheap years.
Cидни Kросби: Александр Oвечкин, он твой папа теперь
матовая Клими, Михал нуивирт ваш папа теперь
Red Line Station: for Capitals fans who can bear reading something less intelligent than a story at Japers' Rink
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by red army line on Aug 11, 2010 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m still a bit lost on why the NHLPA would defend this deal. Purpose of unions are to protect players, but deals like this are specifically engineered not to.
Unless for some reason the union sees 10 years of getting less than the minimum wage protection.
Just seems like theres a lot of role reversal with the nhl trying to protect players more than the nhlpa is trying to defend the corporations.
Bruce Boudreau when asked about Brooks Laich's return to the lineup, he said: "He just adds another dimension to our team. If it was puzzle, he just fits that thing. He completes us."
Brooks Laich completing everything from teams to tires and everything in between.
these things have the effect of cramming more salary in under the cap, thus raising the effective salary cap (for teams that are near the cap). that has a knock-on effect in that there’s more money for contracts for all players throughout the league. it’s really clear that the NHLPA should like this as a way to get better terms out of the CBA than they did in negotiations.
Kovalchuk would like to get $100M over 10 years. NJD agreed to give him about $100M over (airquotes) “17” years with an easy out to avoid the last 7. so that extra $4M in cap space that got created in each of 10 years? NJD will spend almost all of it. that’s almost $40M that other players get, not Kovy. win for NHLPA.
minimum wage protection is irrelevant. Kovy and Hossa will never be working at those wages, and who would care if they did given the millions they’ve made.
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