Ilya Kovalchuk’s contract opens Pandora’s Box
It appears as though the recent decision by arbitrator Richard Bloch in the Ilya Kovalchuk contract case has opened the door to the National Hockey League investigating other long-term contracts. The league has already begun looking into contracts they feel may violate the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
On Monday Bloch sided with the NHL, agreeing that they should have the power to void the contract signed between the New Jersey Devils and Kovalchuk.
The NHL deemed the contract in violation of the League’s CBA, because it attempted to circumvent the salary cap.
The contract itself saw Kovalchuk make $6.5 million in his first two seasons, and then $11.5 million over the next five seasons. The contract then slowly began to drop off, until it eventually hit $550,000 in the last five years of the 17-year deal.
Today it was released that the NHL plans to investigate more long-term contract around the league. Thus far Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks, Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins and Chris Pronger of the Philadelphia Flyers are all being investigated by the league.
All the contracts listed above were signed before the Kovalchuk deal, and all extend long-term, with the players salaries slowly dropping over the course on the contract.
It is still unclear how the league plans to discipline the Devils, however it has been reported that the team could face a fine from anywhere between $1 million and $5 million dollars. One could expect that any team found guilty by the league of trying to circumvent the salary cap could face a similar punishment.
In addition, it is still certain as to whether or not the fine will be charged to the team’s salary cap.
The opening up of contract investigations could also affect the Detroit Red Wings, who have both, Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg signed to long-term deals.
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