The New Jersey Devils expected to re-sign Ilya Kovalchuk to a seven-year, $60 million contract?
Fred Poulin | Jul 05, 2010 | Comments 8
After Ilya Kovalchuk’s agent Jay Grossman broke silence earlier today announcing the Russian winger will make a decision today regarding his future as a NHL player, the NY Post reported the New Jersey Devils have the inside edge in re-signing the much-coveted free agent to a seven-year, $60 million contract. (Their headline has now changed since the rumor first broke to the mainstream media -> Before/after headline
But let’s have a look at the above numbers should Kovalchuk decide to re-sign with the Devils. The native of Tver, Russia, scored 41 goals and added 44 assists last season with New Jersey and Atlanta. Kovalchuk has scored at least 40 goals and 76 points in the past six regular seasons.
The New York Islanders and the Los Angeles were also interested in acquiring the services of the 27-year-old two-time 52-goal scorer, but it seems they were not willing to meet Kovalchuk’s strict demands. He made $7.5 million last season playing for the Atlanta Thrashers and the Devils. The Thrashers traded him Feb. 4, 2010 to the Devils with defenseman Anssi Salmela for winger Niclas Bergfors, defenseman Johnny Oduya, prospect Patrice Cormier, a first-rounder and a swap of second round choices. Kovalchuk had turned down offers of $70 million over seven years and $100 million over twelve years from Atlanta before they decided to trade him before the NHL trade deadline.
Is Kovalchuk the warrior you are looking for?
GM Lou Lamoriello, who is well-known for being a clever general manager (heck he even traded a retired Vladimir Malakhov to the San Jose Sharks), will have to find ways to shed salary in order to fit Kovalchuk under the league cap. If we include Kovalchuk, the Devils have 11 signed forwards, meaning they need two more, because no team ever carries the bare minimum of 12 forwards.
The Devils would most likely waive rearguard Bryce Salvador at the end of training camp, whose salary accounts for $2.9 million. They will then need to manage to trade veterans such as Dainus Zubrus and Jamie Langenbunner before the season starts as NHL teams must be under the salary cap at the beginning of the regular season (they are allowed to go over the cap by 10% during the summer). Lamoriello could also try to trade left winger/center Patrick Elias and his $5 million/year contract ($6 million cap hit), but with three years remaining to his hefty contract and his no-movement clause, it’s almost impossible to trade him.
Trading these two veteran players and demoting Salvador would free up an additional $6.2 million. And even if Lamoriello is able to sign Kovalchuk to the above contract and shed enough salary to stay under the cap, the Devils would still need bodies to fill the uniforms as the above moves would reduce the roster size…
And what happens to all-star Zach Parise when he becomes a restricted free agent at the end of next season and he commands a hefty contract like Kovalchuk?
Filed Under: Los Angeles Kings • New Jersey Devils • New York Islanders • NHL • Winnipeg Jets
Thanks for the update, Fred.
I’m very surprised that Lamoriello would retain him. He’s not one to generally keep Devils that test full-on unrestricted free agency, knowing that bidding wars often result along with the salary-cap headache.
Lost in all this is whether this signals a shift in organizational philosophy for NJ with Lemaire out and MacLean in. They can’t seriously expect Kovalchuk to buy into the defence-first system they’ve been practicing for nearly 2 decades, can they?!?!
Kovys gonna be a NY Islander! I hope..:)
Snow did nothing wrong here and some people in this fan base need to start thinking for themselves and stop listening to a certain blogger who is full of misinformation and hype. He gets the fire started and then allows it to burn out of control. According from what I read in Newsday Snow INQUIRED (no offer) about a short term deal, Kovalchuk and his agent didn’t want a short term deal and that was that. I have said all along I would only sign this guy if it was short term so I have no problem with Snow on this too many things can go bad with a 10 year contract. Hopefully one day these GM’s will wake up and stop awarding these long term contracts because in most cases I don’t think they are a good thing for an organization and the sport.
Since no decision has yet to be taken by Kovalchuk and his agent, it’s hard to know if the Devils are really going to make the above offer to him; therefore, it should spur the rumors surrounding the Islanders and Kovy in the following days.
Fred, nice work.
A few observations…Ilya likes New Jersey, and Lou likes Ilya.
Makes a lot of sense for Kovachuk to remain a Devil if they can agree on the numbers.
Lamoriello will do what he needs to do, within Lou’s Rules.
With Volchenkov and Tallinder on the blue line and Hedberg spelling Brodeur, Ilya as a Devil would have a legit shot at the Cup this year.
The Isles, while they could be a playoff team, still need some more pieces to fill in.
Fun to watch this playing out.
There is a report that the Kings have “re-engaged” talks with Kovalchuk, he still hasn’t signed anywhere yet. Wonder what happened between him and Jersey it was supposed to be a done deal. I would still take him on a 5 year or less contract.
The problem for the Devils is that they have to trade salary before fitting Kovalchuk’s salary under the salary cap, it’s a big stalemate if Kovy wants to sign quickly. As I said here Is Ilya Kovalchuk Los Angeles-bound? -> http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/slasher98/17818/ I think the Kings are the best fit for the Russian sniper.
I thought they could sign him and then they have until the end of the summer to get under the cap.