[News] Ilya Kovalchuk retiring

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Personally, I think you can take the tin hat off. Even with that monster contract I think the Devils could have traded Kovalchuk and gotten some good assets out of the deal.

They didn't need him to retire to get out of the contract. (IMO)

That contract was a boat anchor. I dont think that was trade-able at all. Another instance of meddling ownership.

Hell, the buyout of that beast would have been way worse.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by tempz

We can absolutely blame him. He signed a contract. He should honor it.

So did Kipper.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by tempz

We can absolutely blame him. He signed a contract. He should honor it.

Totally agree with that. It is a slap in the face to the NHL and to the NJ Devils as well. Especially Lou, who is a (from what is said about him) a great person and hockey guy.

At the same time I hope this is an eye opener to other teams. Those contracts are garbage...another example is Brad Richards. Granted he won't leave and dishonor the contract like Kovalchuk.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

There's no way that Kovalchuk was tradeable. The contract was toxic.

Disagree.

He was a superstar forward in his prime. If he retired early, which was likely, the NJD would have felt the hurt due to the recpature penalty rules. Any team who could have afforded it would have taken him.

[cowtown75]

Originally Posted by Drake

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...210237775.html

So looks like he won't be leaving any money on the table after all, just making more of it. The KHL is really becoming a pain for the NHL. Maybe the NHL needs to tighten up the rules in order to eliminate future uncertainties and players bandwagon jumping as this "Russian factor" is getting a bit out of hand.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

So did Kipper.

True, but at the same time if Kipper was to play another year his play alone would damage the rebuild.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

True, but at the same time if Kipper was to play another year his play alone would damage the rebuild.

I hope he comes back. Watch, he will sign in the KHL for $15mil!

[korzym12]

Originally Posted by Drake

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...210237775.html

3 things that haven't been said in this thread yet:

1. Don't let the door hit you in the.....

2. He's not leaving a single dime on the table.

3. Bye bye Ovechkin

[Tinordi]

Originally Posted by blankall

Disagree.

He was a superstar forward in his prime. If he retired early, which was likely, the NJD would have felt the hurt due to the recpature penalty rules. Any team who could have afforded it would have taken him.

That's not my understanding of how the recapture works.

The recapture penalty is applied to any team that benefits from it. If Ilya was traded to another team, they would be responsible for any difference between the salary and the cap hit.

Which is why the contract was toxic, any team trading for him would be assuming the fat-tail risk of him retiring at the end of the contract while New Jersey would have only been hit with the $250k that they're subjective to now.

Untradeable.

[tempz]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

So did Kipper.

Agreed. I'm not super happy with that situation either. But to my knowledge he is done physically and mentally and hanging up his pads. Not fake retiring so he can go play in another professional league.

[Nsd1]

Originally Posted by tempz

We can absolutely blame him. He signed a contract. He should honor it.

He did honor it. NHL bylaws state a player may choose to retire at any point during a contract and that's what he is choosing to do. It doesn't seem like the Devils are to broken up about it.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

That's not my understanding of how the recapture works.

The recapture penalty is applied to any team that benefits from it. If Ilya was traded to another team, they would be responsible for any difference between the salary and the cap hit.

Which is why the contract was toxic, any team trading for him would be assuming the fat-tail risk of him retiring at the end of the contract while New Jersey would have only been hit with the $250k that they're subjective to now.

Untradeable.

You're right about the cap thing actually. I alsways forget that Kovy's contract started out small, for whatever reason, and then got larger and then smaller.

[GGG]

We should also remember that Malkin had a contract with the KHL when he came over that he used Russian Labour law to scape goat out of. And that the owners just locked out the players to save money.

So players should be looking out for whats best for themselves. If what they are doing is legal then they should be doing it. Owners only look out for themselves so why shouldn't players.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

That's not my understanding of how the recapture works.

The recapture penalty is applied to any team that benefits from it. If Ilya was traded to another team, they would be responsible for any difference between the salary and the cap hit.

Which is why the contract was toxic, any team trading for him would be assuming the fat-tail risk of him retiring at the end of the contract while New Jersey would have only been hit with the $250k that they're subjective to now.

Untradeable.

Especially the way it's structured. The first 3 years (which the Devils are being hit with) were $6M, $6M, and $11M salaries which mean they were only subject to a fairly modest $3M penalty.

Years 4 through 9 would've seen a cap benefit of $23M due to the ridiculous salaries to be paid out:

4: $11.3M
5: $11.3M
6: $11.6M
7: $11.8M
8: $10M
9: $7M

No one was going to willingly take that on regardless of how good he is.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

So did Kipper.

Is Kipper planning to suit up in the SM-Liiga next year?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

As a Devils fan, I'm rather pleased by this. He was a puck hog, or at least the Devils made him into one. Our powerplay was absolutely abysmal with him out there. They would just pass the puck to him every chance they got and teams would key on that.

The Devils of the past would score by committee. No major superstars up front. Unless you call Elias a superstar, which is possible. Or Mogilny. Or Richer. Okay, maybe some people that were on the border of superstar. But last year we had all our eggs in one basket. And a basket that played poor defensively at that. I'd rather have a bad few seasons and do a real rebuild around what was REAL Devils hockey - a good all round team that can roll four lines. That is what won the cups.

1st quote: That's sounds eerily familiar
2nd quote: This is my hope for what Feaster and co. are building here. No true superstar, but a team FULL of talented players that each can play their role well. I see them starting to model their system after the old Lamoriello system. It's just too bad that Lou went all "Sutter" on the Devils' fan base over the last few years.

[tempz]

Originally Posted by Nsd1

He did honor it. NHL bylaws state a player may choose to retire at any point during a contract and that's what he is choosing to do. It doesn't seem like the Devils are to broken up about it.

The fans are devastated by it. This is the same franchise that recently lost Zach Parise to free agency and will soon lose a hall of fame goaltender to (legitimate) retirement. Imagine how much that would suck.

But as we've been shown through multiple lockouts, no one gives a #### about the fans.

[jessnuts]

Anyone know: if they miss the playoffs (when might be a better word) are they involved in the lottery and then their pick removed, or is it taken out first? Wouldn't affect the order I don't think, but would change the odds of other teams in the lottery

[sureLoss]

It will be interesting to see if the NHL brings anything up with the IIHF. The eligibility issue to play in IIHF tournaments was pretty much the only thing that the NHL was holding over players heads to prevent them from abandoning their NHL contracts for the KHL. Now that someone has used the retirement loophole, I wonder if the NHL does anything to close it or pressure the IIHF not to recognize retirement or something along those lines.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Redrum

I'm surprised you don't see this more often. Get a few mill in the bank and just sit back. Of course I'm incredibly lazy but there must be others like me out there.

Yeah. I think most people on this forum would quit their jobs if they won $20 million. Furthermore, a lot of people would want to raise their kids in the country their grew up in. Remember, Nik Lidstrom came very close to retiring and moving back to Sweden when he was under 30.