Ok, now that we've all had time to sit down and piece together what exactly happened with the whole Ilya Kovalchuk thing, here are my thoughts about it altogether. From the start, there seemed to be no better fit for the Russian sniper than the LA Kings. Thats where I was hoping he would land at least (as far away from Buffalo as possible). They are a young team on its way up after a few years of mediocre teams. They drafted well and managed to hold onto their key players. They have a nice balance of talented forwards and a strong defensive corps with a young, promising goaltender. The only place their depth chart is a little shallow is in the left wing department. Hmm, see where this is going? Yea, Kovy undoubtedly wants to be part of a winning team and this team has talent, a good mix of youth and veteran leadership and plays in a market where media pressure is manageable at worst. Was Kovy scared of being treated like the next Wayne Gretzky, the savior of hockey in LA, bringer of the Cup? I doubt it but there is that possibility I suppose. I don't meant to insinuate in any way that the Devils are not going to be a winning team, I mean hell, they do have Arnott, Volchenkov, Tallinder, Parise, Elais, Langenbrunner, Zajac, Rolston and the ever-present Brodeur. There was talks that Kovy's friendly rivalry with countryman Alexander Ovechkin was playing into his contract demands but I think even Kovalchuk himself knows that he is no Ovi and to expect similar pay is just plain silly.
The New Jersey signing represents a departure from the Devils I have known since I first started paying any real attention to hockey and yet, at the same time, it is a microcosm of the organization and Lamoriello as a whole. On one side, its a huge financial investment by a notoriously frugal (read: cheap) team. Its also a signing of a major free agent, not just a free agent but THE free agent. Oh yeah, he's also a forward and not exactly known for his spectacular two way play or hard-nosed battling. Lets not forget, he is a Euro after all. On the other hand, the contract, in and of itself, is a sneaky, backhanded way of circumventing the CBA and, while not entirely original, it was certainly the most aggressive attempt to lower cap hit and still give the player the absurd quantities of money he wants. This isn't the first time Lamoriello has done something underhanded and not entirely kosher in the interest of saving money (burying players in the A is not cool, Lou). Surprisingly enough, Mr. Lamoriello had a few interesting remarks regarding these lifetime contracts that are in vogue right now, none of which were overly in favor of the idea. Check out Puck Daddy if you're unfamiliar with his take on things.
The fact that the NHL rejected this ridiculous contract is, for lack of a better word, outstanding. The league had undoubtedly been waiting for the right moment to put its foot down on contracts like this. Unfortunately for Kovalchuk and the Devils, they happened to cross the "t"s and dot the "i"s right in the middle of a perfect storm. Consider:
-Kovalchuk is the biggest name in this years UFA class.
-He took what was widely regarded as far too long to sign with a team (In my opinion, this was a breath of fresh air compared to past free agents who signed their careers away mere hours into free agency. You tell me if there is tampering in NHL contract negotiations…).
-Signing in Jersey was a pretty big surprise.
-There is really nothing else going on around the NHL so it was guaranteed to make headlines.
-Kovalchuk's own President/CEO/GM-to-be has publicly stated that he is against this type of contract, at the press conference for it nonetheless.
-The NHL had to put its foot down eventually and it works far better for them to establish a precedent now, before the CBA is reopened, and have a place to dig its heels in the ground so to speak when it comes time to negotiate.
-The NHLPA is currently leaderless. As the League sees things, now is a good time to try to impose their will as the players union will likely be disorganized and distracted. I understand this is probably an overly-cynical view but you'll have to excuse my lack of faith in Commissioner Bettman and his goals for the league as a whole at this point.
So now it comes down to how things will pan out. There are a million possible outcomes to this ranging from the likely (the two parties restructure the deal, perhaps for less cash and years and it gets approved) to the ideal (they give up on the whole thing and Kovy signs in LA for $80 million over 10 years with yearly salaries that are reasonable and a contract that will take him to the reasonable age of 37 at which point he would probably retire) to the bizarre (The Islanders make good on their offer and Kovy joins Tavares and company). At the end of the day I really have no idea what will happen but I hope it gets resolved soon because I'm almost as sick of hearing about this guy as I was LeBron James (really, who decided it was ok to let someone spell their name like that. The double capitalization is seriously dumb, especially considering "Bron" doesn't mean anything in French) and I actually like the sport of hockey. I'll leave you all pondering on my thoughts about basketball. Don't hurt yourselves thinking too hard.
Until next time, keep two hands on your stick.
Oh yeah, almost forgot:
