The Puck Stops Here
Kovalchuk Arbitration Decision Is Too Little Too Late
by PuckStopsHere on 08/09/10 at 09:05 PM ET
Comments (9)
The arbitration decision is in. llya Kovalchuk’s 17 year contract with the New Jersey Devils circumvents the salary cap. That means that Kovalchuk is a free agent again and for all we know could wind up in the KHL if he cannot find an NHL deal to his liking. The problem with the decision is that several other contracts that have been accepted by the NHL are also front-loaded to circumvent the salary cap. In fact, Marian Hossa was one of the key players on the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks and he has the most outrageous front-loaded contract before the Kovalchuk one. It is too late to try to enforce a rule interpretation if its lack of enforcement in the past may have played a part in deciding the Stanley Cup.
The clear result of this process is that Gary Bettman holds even more control over the NHL and that cannot be seen as a good thing given his history.
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Tags: Chicago+Blackhawks, Ilya+Kovalchuk, Marian+Hossa, New+Jersey+Devils,
Comments
“It is too late to try to enforce a rule interpretation…”
Are you sure it’s too late?
Posted by Colligan on 08/09/10 at 09:42 PM ET
Are you sure it’s too late?
Posted by Colligan on 08/09/10 at 09:42 PM ET
It is technically not too late, but the NHL isn’t going to take a Cup away from Chicago. It was a perfect “from the ashes” story about a crummy organization in a big market. The NHL desperately needed the ratings Chicago gave them. How can they realistically slap them in the face like that?
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 08/10/10 at 09:26 AM ET
I don’t see any way the league even considers touching what’s happened in the past with Hossa and Chicago. But I also see no reason they wouldn’t de-register the four contracts they pointed out as being currently under investigation (Hossa, Pronger, Luongo, Savard). Even more to the point, would Chicago, Philly, and Boston even put up a strong fight given their current situations?
Posted by Colligan on 08/10/10 at 09:36 AM ET
If the de-register the Hossa contract after the Cup, it will certainly raise controversy about the integrity of the league for allowing that contract to stand for just long enough for Chicago to win it.
You don’t have to be a card-carrying tinfoil hat society member to think there’s something fishy about that kind of dealing.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 08/10/10 at 10:24 AM ET
Put yourself in the shoes of a New Jersey fan (or management) though and consider the flip side to that. Chicago, Boston, Vancouver, Philly were allowed to cheat, but NJ isn’t? By rejecting Kovy but allowing the others to still stand it raises just as many questions about the integrity of the league.
Posted by Colligan on 08/10/10 at 10:39 AM ET
Put yourself in the shoes of a New Jersey fan (or management) though and consider the flip side to that. Chicago, Boston, Vancouver, Philly were allowed to cheat, but NJ isn’t? By rejecting Kovy but allowing the others to still stand it raises just as many questions about the integrity of the league.
Bloch adresses that point to some degree (page 19, footnote 23):
The apparent purpose of this evidence (the NHLPA list of similar contracts) is to suggest that the League’s concern is late blooming and/or inconsistent. Several responses are in order: First, while the contracts have, in fact, been registered, their structure has not escaped League notice: those SPCs are being investigated currently with at least the possibility of a subsequent withdrawal of the registration. It is also the case that the figures in Kovalchuk’s case are demonstrably more dramatic, including a 17-year term length, a $102,000,000 salary total and precipitous drop that lasts for the final six years of this contract.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 08/10/10 at 11:38 AM ET
Right, but the important point there is that Bloch never really responded to the NHLPA argument. He said Kovalchuk was more dramatic than the others, but left the door completely open by saying the others may not even be valid. There’s a line in the sand, but no one knows where it is.
My point was that if Bloch had pinned this simply on the Kovalchuk deal, the Devils may have come forth with a lawsuit. Instead, Bloch withheld judgment on the others, but also avoided Kovalchuk discrimination.
Posted by Colligan on 08/10/10 at 12:49 PM ET
The salary structure and cap circumvention in hockey is like steroids in baseball. The owners ingored it as long as it helped them retain the stars in big markets and now that it is a perceived problem they want to seem like they are proactive in eliminating it.
Posted by hockey1919 from mid-atlantic on 08/10/10 at 02:43 PM ET
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Sorry but in this case I can’t agree. Yes, the Hossa deal was drastically front loaded, but the Kovalchuk deal just bordered on silliness. It was all about getting Kovalchuk his $100M dollars that he seemed to have his heart set on. Heck, any team could have offered him $5M a year @ 20 years to get him his $100M dollars but that doesn’t make the deal kosher. The Hossa deal bordered on circumventing the CBA. The Kovalchuk deal gave the CBA the middle finger.
Say what you will about Bettman, and I can’t stand the guy either, but I’m 100% sure the NHL would have challenged the Hossa deal, or any other front loaded deal, if they felt they had a case they could win with an arbitrator. In the Kovalchuk case they clearly felt like they did have a case, and lo and behold the arbitrator agreed.
The solution of course is to go to the bargaining table and close the loophole. The problem with that solution is it’s going to take another work stoppage, perhaps another long one, before the 2 sides will be able to agree. But the loophole must be closed.
Posted by Paul From Cali on 08/09/10 at 09:32 PM ET