The Ilya Kovalchuk Contract: Why the NHL needs to do something about it

Hello again. Free Agency has gone to a standstill except for a little signing that you may or may not have heard about from yesterday. A player by the name of Ilya Kovalchuk has just signed a 17 year deal worth $102 million! According to TSN the contract breaks down as follows:


- Kovalchuk will earn $6 million each of the next two seasons
- $11.5 million for the following five seasons
- $10.5 million in the 2017-18 season
- $8.5 million for the 2018-19 season
- $6.5 million in 2019-20
- $3.5 million in 2020-21
- $750,000 the following season
- and $550,000 for the final five years


I hate to beat a dead horse here because I'm sure you've all heard the numbers before reading this but this deal will only be a $6.5 million cap hit for the Devils and when the contract expires, Kovalchuk will be 44!

Here's my issue with this deal. First of all, it's clear Kovalchuk will not play until he is 44, he will retire and still make more than you or I could ever hope for. Lamoriello knows this of course, however making the contract go on for 17 years only creates a $6.5 million cap hit for the Devils. There is nothing illegal about this in the current CBA (to my knowledge), however you can be damn sure that it will be come the next one.

The NHL needs to look into this issue and not allow teams to do this, teams should not be able to sign a star player for a ridiculous term to lower the hit on the cap. I've always had a problem with these ridiculously long deals from the beginning. The NHL should limit the number of years a player can sign on to a team for, say maybe 5 or 6 years. These long-term deals are making the NHL look like a joke.

What does this mean for the Devils? Well this deal can either be the start of a strong team for the Devils or make the team completely crumble. Kovalchuk does bring some offensive flair to a team that is known to be defensive. However, if Kovalchuk is a bust in New Jersey, not having his 1-2 minute shifts, you can't get rid of him. No one would want to take on THAT contract! (and I thought Jeff Finger's contract was impossible to get rid of).

That is my rant and insight for now, until next time folks and tanks for reading!