Breaking down the Kovalchuk signing
All-star Ilya Kovalchuk has reportedly signed a 17-year $100 million dollar deal with the New Jersey Devils. The contract would see Kovalchuk make an average of $5.9 million a year. But what if general manager Lou Lamoriello failed in re-signing the Russian superstar, and now that he has what does this mean for the Devils going forward?
The Deal
Kovalchuk was traded to the Devils last season at the deadline in the hopes that he would give them the skill to contend for the Stanley cup. It proved not to be enough.
Prior to the trade the Thrashers offered Kovalchuk a 12 year $101 million dollar contract, which the winger rejected. This forced GM Rick Dudley into trading away the team's top point getter. Dudley did well however. even though the whole league knew that Kovalchuk wanted to move, Dudley managed to get some important pieces to the Thrashers rebuild.
Kovalchuk and Anssi Salmela were traded to New Jersey in exchange for Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier and a first round draft pick. Bergfors is a 23 year-old rookie who had a strong first campaign, notching a total of 44 points. Oduya is a tough stay at home defenseman who finished last season a plus-six. Cormier is a youngster that plays on the edge, but shows a great deal of promise having played on two Canadian World Junior squads. Salmela was basically a throw in, as it is likely he will not see much time if any at the National Hockey League level next season, the real prize was Kovalchuk. However Kovalchuk’s contract was due up at the end of the season, and the Devils would be forced to try and re-sign him along with a plethora of other NHL franchises.
What if he had not signed?
If Kovalchuk had not signed with New Jersey this could have gone down as the worst deal of Lamoriello’s prestigious career.
The Devils failed to do any damage in the playoffs last season, playing in only five games before they were sent packing by their division rivals the Philadelphia Flyers. There is no question that Kovalchuk performed well in the playoffs netting six points in the short campaign. Nevertheless, if Lamoriello had failed to sign the superstar that is all he would have got from him. It was imperative that Lamoriello sign him after giving away so much young talent, including a first round draft choice. Initially the real winner in this deal was Atlanta, as they parted ways with a player they would not have been able to retain, and collected a bundle of youth.
In addition if the Devils missed out completely on Kovalchuk there would have been very little left for them to go after in what was a shallow free agent pool this off-season.
What this mean going forward
Moving into next year and beyond the Kovalchuk signing keeps the Devils very close to the cap. Currently the Devils sit slightly over a million dollars above the imposed limit. This means that New Jersey will have to either make a minor move, or take one of their current NHL roster players and put them in the American Hockey League.
Right now paying $6 million a season for one of the league’s most prolific scorers is a steal, however it is the length of the deal that will bother the Devils in the long run. Kovalchuk is no longer a rookie at age 27, and in 17 years will be 44 years old. At 44 it is safe to say that the sniper will no longer be at the top of his game, what the Devils are hoping is that Kovalchuk will decide to retire before that time and take the money off their books.
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