Daniel

Per Twitter, no comment from Vanderbeek or Grossman. Hopefully a revised deal is being put together and this thing is finally put to bed.

Lou would seriously be playing with fire if this was planned to get in the press conference before an official rejection when he knew it was coming ahead of time. If you were Kovalchuk or Grossman would you have any respect or ever want to deal with an organization that acted in bad faith? If there's even a bit of truth to this, don't be shocked if Kovalchuk walks away and if Grossman never does business with Lou again. Not to mention the fact that every free agent you ever want to sign (ahem Parise) would be very releuctant to signsign with the Devils or play for them a day longer than necessary.

If that's the case, I really hope Lou shared that information with Grossman. Hiding something like that could definitely lead to the deal falling apart, especially since it would appear that the press conference was rushed to get Kovalchuk to make the statements that he did.

Also, it's up to the NHLPA to appeal. The Devils cannot.

Do you know Grossman's going to release a statement, or just speculating. Neither would surprise me. EDIT: Nevermind, TG says will be issuing a statement. Party on Wayne.

As usual, I haven't done the math, but relative to the contracts that the team would have to unload anyway, I don't think it makes a difference. That's especially so if the plan is to unload Rolston come hell or highwater.

But Єklund (2.3% accurate) said it was a possibility. The man is really tuned in to what's going on the league. He says so himself.

It doesn't matter that he has "no contract" with the Devils. The "contract" that matters here is the CBA. And what I've read is that the CBA says that he is a UFA after the grievance process works itself out, or if a re-structured deal is reached in the interim.

You knew this was coming.

I wonder now if this wasd part of the reason for holding the press conference so soon, and making it public. If there was a fear that the contract would be rejected, the plan might have been to make it very difficult for Kovalchuk to leave after he said all that stuff about wanting to win, wanting to be in New Jersey, etc.

Unless there is some evidence that the arbitrator's decision was the product of corruption (e.g. the league paid him off to rule in its favor or that the arbitrator is Bettman's wife) a court is not going to overrule the arbitrator's decision. And even if it did, it would in all likelihood go back to just another arbitrator.

LA might make sense. However, unless they think they're absolutely robbing the Devils, from a PR standpoint, it would be difficult to stomach helping the team that beat you to the pucnch to get under the cap. I also don't know whether Rolston would accept a trade to LA considering he seemed intent on settling down in the NJ area.

Upping the money at the end of the deal gives more of an incentive for Kovalchuk to play out those remaining years, so maybe it could make difference (if you believe what the league is selling, which I don't).

Or there's the simplest explanation that Bettman/NHL are completely full of sh*t, and there is absolutely no MEANINGFUL distinction between Kovalchuk's deal, and any of the rest. And do you honestly believe that the league would have rejected the reported 15 year $80 million deal that the Kings had on the table. (To answer you ahead of time, the extra two years is a meaningless distinction). I'm sorry, I've never been one to buy into conspiracies, but this absolutely wreaks of vendetta from the league. If this deal is done by any team that the league likes seeing on tv, there would be no issue. And the NHL wonders why it isn't taken seriously.

From everything we hear, the league's view is that neither the Devils nor Kovalchuk believe that he'll play of the life of the contract. Tweaking numbers here and there won't change that. You either have to make the deal a few years shorter, or perhaps up the money paid in the last few years of the deal.

Either that, or he will reveal his true identity, Jayavich Grossmanov, and announce that Kovy has signed with the KHL.

After what he said during the press conference about wanting to settle down in NJ and wanting to win, being committed to the team, etc., it would look VERY bad if he went elsewhere, especially if the re-tweaking didn't significantly alter the money he'd be taking home.

Unless the rules are written into the CBA, there really aren't any rules to it. Each side will make its case and the arbitrator will make a decision. So long as the decision has some reasoned basis the arbitrator's decision stands. Again, this might be subject to rules relating to collective bargaining agreements, but that's the way arbitration generally works.

Not to mention that Kovalchuk would look a little silly if he walked away after saying how much he loves the organization and how he only wants to win.

In short, unless you can show in a court, in layman's terms, that the arbitrator's decision was the product of corruption, the arbitrator's decision stands. Maybe the arbitrator looks at it the way we do or maybe not. All that's needed is a somewhat reasoned basis for the arbitrator's decision. EDIT: The standard of review might be a little different since it involves a collective bargaining agreement. I don't know one way or the other.

If there is a challenge, an arbitrator will decide the matter. You can challenge the arbitrator's decision in court, but it is extremely difficult to win. For something like this it would be a virtual impossibility.

Garbage.

I think you'll probably get a few interviews here and there over the next couple of days. Including the five or so minutes before/after though, there won't be any mention of it.

I don't think this dynamic is anything new. Lou the tight-wad has always been something of a myth. Back in the day, it was really McMullen the tight-wad. Not surprising that once the Yankees were in the picture, Lou was willing to dump $8 million on Bobby Holik of all people. I don't care how tough a negotiator Lou supposedly is. If your owner assures you that the money is there from a financial standpoint, you don't blow a chance to land a once in a lifetime talent if you can make it work cap wise.

Just to put media attention in perspective, I'm listening to the Michael Kay show, with Don LaGreca, a bona fide Devils fan, and they're talking about the Mets/Diamondbacks game from last night, with no indication that they'll devote 5 minutes to the Kovalchuk signing.