Ilya Kovalchuk makes a deal with the New Jersey Devils
After so many rumours from gossip gurus and news analysts, no one was concerned as to which deal was Ilya Kovalchuk about to sign as everyone had lost interest. Everyone was just concerned as to when the entire drama was going to end. It came as breaking news when Ilya Kovalchuk’s free agency reign has finally ended and he is back with the New Jersey Devils.
The Russian kept NHL fans on the edge of their seats for the last many weeks. In the running to acquire the biggest catch of this year’s free agency included almost everyone at one point. There were negotiations with the Los Angeles Kings, rumours of a deal with the New York Islanders, the New Jersey Devils of course, the Atlanta Thrashers and even the Russian Kontinental Hockey league which was considering in hiring Kovalchuk. Large sums of money were doled out in front of Kovalchuk and he turned down those deals to everyone’s surprise.
One of the surprise let downs was the $102 million 12-year-deal that the Thrashers offered. There was little chance that Kovalchuk could get anything higher than that and he didn’t. The deal he signed is worth a little more than what the Thrashers offered but leaves him making a lesser amount per year over the length of his contract. Kovalchuk rejected the Thrashers deal not because the money wasn’t good enough but because he wanted a long term deal. Instead of the Thrasher’s $102 million over a12 year period, Kovalchuk inked the Devil’s $101 million for a mind boggling 17-year-long contract.
There is, however, the distinct possibility that Kovalchuk didn’t exactly plan these turn of events. When the thrashers offered him the deal, Kovalchuk had everything going for him. He was the coveted prize of 2010 and sure to get whatever price he asked. There were teams who needed his skills and who had no other options. The free agency wasn’t working out well and the top 30 NHL players are already serving on long term contracts. There won’t be anyone on par with Kovalchuk on the market for quite a few years now, considering that Kovalchuk has been hired until 2027. Given the options that NHL teams had in 2010, Kovalchuk could have easily played hard ball.
Two can play at that though. On the first day of the free agency, there was no news on Kovalchuk. The Los Angeles Kings started to seriously pursue Kovalchuk and after a day, their General Manager, Dean Lombardi, gave up on his efforts. Their deal too was more expensive per year than what the Devils eventually signed Kovalchuk for. Still, the Kings couldn’t have signed Kovalchuk on his own terms and conditions. The deal would have had ramifications beyond the obvious. The Kings still had extensions to offer on their roster and paying so heavily for Kovalchuk would have made all those contracts even more expensive. The offer extended to Kovalchuk which was believed to be worth $80 million for the next 15 years. Kovalchuk was right to turn that down.
The deal he did eventually sign was heavily front-loaded. The majority of the $100 million would be paid to the 27-year-old before 2020. In the next decade, he can look forwards to a 6 million dollar for his first two years, 11.5 million for the next 5 years, $10.5 million for 2017-2018, $8.5 million, $6.5 million and $3.5 million in the next three seasons respectively. So by the year 2021, Kovalchuk would have been paid $98.5 million of his $102 million contract. In the last five years of the deal, Kovalchuk would be playing for less than $700,000 a year at the age of 40 which in all likelihood, is not going to happen. If we look at it from an objective angle, the Devils would have Kovalchuk playing for them until 2021. This explains why Kovalchuk turned down the offers from the Kings and the Thrashers. For the next 17 years, the $102 million sounds menial but the heavily front-loaded contract makes more sense for Kovalchuk.
The upside for the New Jersey Devils is that the annual cap hit would be just $6 million dollars. What can be better for the Devils who have clinched one the top goal scorers in the NHL to play for them in his prime for a cap hit of just $6 million. That still makes Kovalchuk the most expensive player on the Devil’s roster and would become the highest paid athlete in the NHL after his second year with the Devils, unless the definition of overpriced is pushed to the limit again in the next two years of NHL signings.
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