[Rumour] Kovalchuk decides to stay in Russia for another season

[FireGilbert]

Makes sense for him to wait another season, play in the Olympics and then pick his team as a free agent.

Originally Posted by edn88

Happy to not see Kovulchuk return. Don't care how good or bad he is.

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

Good. NHL is better without him in it.

Why? How is a skilled NHL calibre player not playing in the NHL a good thing? Not having Kovalchuk in the league just means an extra roster spot available for players like Doan, Bollig, Colborne, Bouma, etc. I would much rather watch Kovi play than any one of them.

[Pliddy]

This is an epic failure for Shero. I'm sure he wanted to maximize any return for Kovalchuk, he is an expiring asset and as bad as it would be to let him walk for a 2nd rounder, it's worse to let him go for nothing

[habernac]

Puck Daddy:

https://sports.yahoo.com/behind-scen...-sh&soc_trk=tw


“Get a contract with the team. Then that general manager calls New Jersey. That’s all that had to happen. And it never did,” said Shero. “So that’s the end of the story.”

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Makes sense for him to wait another season, play in the Olympics and then pick his team as a free agent.





Why? How is a skilled NHL calibre player not playing in the NHL a good thing? Not having Kovalchuk in the league just means an extra roster spot available for players like Doan, Bollig, Colborne, Bouma, etc. I would much rather watch Kovi play than any one of them.

Just not a fan of guys coming and going as they please. It irks me. There's plenty of guys fighting tooth and nail to make the NHL, it's their dream and this guy takes it for granted, and potentially robs one more guy of fulfilling that dream.

[dash_pinched]

Slava Malamud @SlavaMalamud
Sport-Express reports that Kovalchuk's one-year deal with SKA is in excess of 200 million rubles. Yes, that's about $3.38 million.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I would have happily signed Kovalchuk for $3.5 million on a one year deal. That's disappointing.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

I would have happily signed Kovalchuk for $3.5 million on a one year deal. That's disappointing.

Dont forget a few little things.

Theres a reason why players love playing in the NHL, its the best league in the world, but theres a cost to that.

In Russia the players arent taxed, he likely doesnt have or need a Russian agent, so Ilya will walk away with likely every ruble of that contract.

In North America you take 10% off the top to the agent and likely somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30%-40% in taxes, then theres escrow, etc, so for him to walk away with the same number of rubles in his pocket you'd have to roughly double that number.

Tells me that he was probably looking for a deal in the $7M-$8M range and I for one am glad he did not find that here.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Locke

Dont forget a few little things.

Theres a reason why players love playing in the NHL, its the best league in the world, but theres a cost to that.

In Russia the players arent taxed, he likely doesnt have or need a Russian agent, so Ilya will walk away with likely every ruble of that contract.

In North America you take 10% off the top to the agent and likely somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30%-40% in taxes, then theres escrow, etc, so for him to walk away with the same number of rubles in his pocket you'd have to roughly double that number.

Tells me that he was probably looking for a deal in the $7M-$8M range and I for one am glad he did not find that here.

Of course you would bring taxes into this discussion. Don't you ever stop working?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Of course you would bring taxes into this discussion. Don't you ever stop working?

Contrary to what those high falutin 'Scientists' tell you, what really makes the world go round is Taxes.

It just shows that the NHL and KHL are not even remotely even playing fields.

[Poe969]

Playing in Russia was an easy choice for Kovy, in Soviet Russia, taxes pay you!

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Locke

Dont forget a few little things.

Theres a reason why players love playing in the NHL, its the best league in the world, but theres a cost to that.

In Russia the players arent taxed, he likely doesnt have or need a Russian agent, so Ilya will walk away with likely every ruble of that contract.

In North America you take 10% off the top to the agent and likely somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30%-40% in taxes, then theres escrow, etc, so for him to walk away with the same number of rubles in his pocket you'd have to roughly double that number.

Tells me that he was probably looking for a deal in the $7M-$8M range and I for one am glad he did not find that here.

According to this they are taxed.

In contrast, after Russia’s 2001 Tax Reform, the Federal Income Tax Rate for 2009 is 13% for an individual that is a Russian resident. 13% across the board, flat tax rate, no matter how much you make. Non-resident Russians are taxed at a Federal Income Tax Rate of 30%, still lower than the top American tax burden.

The difference between the two tax rates is astonishing when applied to hockey players’ salaries. Jaromir Jagr is reportedly making US$10 million annually in the KHL. After taxes, he will be charged US$1.3 million dollars annually in tax. If playing in the NHL under the same salary, Jagr would be charged at least an additional US$1.7 million in tax, plus additional income taxes from his state and/or city. Where would you play? Could you deal with a slightly less luxurious locker room or hotel room over the course of a season for at least an additional US$1.7 million dollars? The reality is that many NHL players, all of whom have limited careers, would take the tradeoff to make the jump to the KHL.

http://www.hockeyfights.com/forums/f...layers-126281/

also

Players pay their agents between three and six per cent depending on the amount of services provided by the agent. The agent’s fee is calculated after escrow is paid. If a player pays his agent four per cent of $850,000 (after escrow) it would be $34,000.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/ar...much-you-think

[Violator]

Didn't commodore give an interview were he stated that it was sketchy on how you got paid in the KHL?

Knowing your gonna get paid every week is better than not knowing.

[lazypucker]

Of course the Russian government will collect taxes, but a lot of contracts negotiated in Europe are quoted as after-tax / after agent fee "take home" pay. So I guess Kovy does pocket the full amoint, which is comparable to a $5.5 mil contract here in North America.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Locke

Dont forget a few little things.

Theres a reason why players love playing in the NHL, its the best league in the world, but theres a cost to that.

In Russia the players arent taxed, he likely doesnt have or need a Russian agent, so Ilya will walk away with likely every ruble of that contract.

In North America you take 10% off the top to the agent and likely somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30%-40% in taxes, then theres escrow, etc, so for him to walk away with the same number of rubles in his pocket you'd have to roughly double that number.

Tells me that he was probably looking for a deal in the $7M-$8M range and I for one am glad he did not find that here.

That's true, but in Russia they may decide to just stop paying you whereas that money is guaranteed in The NHL. The KHL is almost completely financed by oil
And Gas corps who essentially are forced by the government to pay to run a team if they want property rights.

I think the current state of the oil and gas industry and teams welching on salaries is why we see a lot of the big KHL stars starting to trickle back.
Kovalchuk was probably too big of star for Putin's ego to lose. Someone was probably voluntold by the government to pay him upfront.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Violator

Didn't commodore give an interview were he stated that it was sketchy on how you got paid in the KHL?

Knowing your gonna get paid every week is better than not knowing.

He did, but there are multiple examples and articles out there that indicate the same thing.

My friend was in Russia for work several years back, and he went to a game in Omsk (i think that's where it was) when it was just loaded with former NHL stars making big coin, and he said it blew him away because he paid like 5 bucks CDN to watch and there might have been a couple thousand people there. All the finances of that league are sketch.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by Violator

Didn't commodore give an interview were he stated that it was sketchy on how you got paid in the KHL?

Knowing your gonna get paid every week is better than not knowing.

You have to show up somewhere on a friday night and they hand out a paperbag full of cash.

Nothing sketchy about that.......

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

You have to show up somewhere on a friday night and they hand out a paperbag full of cash.

Nothing sketchy about that.......

That's how our PM Brian Mulroney got paid, so it's got to be okay.