New Kovy Update ("As the Kovy Turns")

[Daniel]

this could take months. kovalchuk could miss the beginning of the season. or, worse still, the nhlpa could leave them out in the cold and kovalchuk could go elsewhere.

If you don't mind paying a fancy law firm a lot of money (not to mention ruining a bunch of lawyers' vacation plans) you could potentially get a court to rule on a motion for a preliminary injunction within a week or so. The CBA makes it crystal clear that this is supposed to go to an arbitrator, so it's likely any law suit would be dismissed anyway.

[maxpower]

this could take months. kovalchuk could miss the beginning of the season. or, worse still, the nhlpa could leave them out in the cold and kovalchuk could go elsewhere.

the problem is, I don't even know if they can renegotiate w/o the PA punting. if he's locked into the "dead" contract until a decision was made, I would assume this means they can't put in a new proposal to get cleared.

in hindsight, this was pretty dumb, they got a little too greedy when going out to 42 would have probably made this ironclad. or Kovalchuk is a total retard and had to have 17 years because he wears 17, and 102 because it's one more than Waddell gave him, not that he'd actually be getting those extra dollars anyway.

I'd love to be a fly on Lou's wall right about now. I really don't think this sh!tshow is much of his doing.

[jagknife]

"it's all velvet ropes and posturing..." -Michael Imperioli

i hate those effing commercials!

I'd love to be a fly on Lou's wall right about now. I really don't think this sh!tshow is much of his doing.

he'd throw a jar of jelly at you... you sure you wanna do that still?

[mmajeski06]

Went to a bar tonight in OH. Had a few Guinnesses. Saw the ESPN report on Kovy every 20 mins. Totally sucks.

[Devilsfan118]

Went to a bar tonight in OH. Had a few Guinnesses. Saw the ESPN report on Kovy every 20 mins. Totally sucks.

Go figure it takes something like this to get hockey coverage on ESPN.

[jagknife]

Go figure it takes something like this to get hockey coverage on ESPN.

It is the perfect way for them to say, "see hockey is still a joke, here's Lebron throwing a cup into the garbage, ITS OUR TOP 10 PLAY! SIMPLY AMAZING" with a stuart scott "Boo-yah" thrown obnoxiously in there.

god i hate that freaking network now.

[mort4345]

I'm going to take a stab at predicting the final outcome of the Kovy situation (I realize this is an exercise in insanity but what the heck). The Devils come back and say that the organization believes that if it took its case to the arbitrator or the court system, the Devils would win and the contract would in fact be upheld. However, in the spirit of trying to make this work for everyone involved - the team, player and the league as a whole - the Devils agree to unilaterally submit a revised contract (in part to expedite the process instead of waiting for an independent arbitrator to be reinstated, which could take weeks according to some reports). In the end, the revised contract would look something like this:

2010-11: $6 Million

2011-12: $6 Million

2012-13: $10.5 Million

2013-14: $10.5 Million

2014-15: $11.5 Million

2015-16: $11.5 Million

2016-17: $10.5 Million (no-movement clause ends on June 30, 2017)

2017-18: $9.5 Million

2018-19: $7.5 Million (no-trade clause begins on July 1, 2018)

2019-20: $6.5 Million

2020-21: $3.65 Million

2021-22: $1.75 Million

2022-23: $1.0 Million

2023-24: $550,000

2024-25: $550,000

Total

15 seasons: $97.5 million

So, what does this accomplish? Overall the contract gives Kovy less money in total dollars - a fairly obvious point. The revised deal would also increase the cap hit from $5.88 million to $6.5 million (concession by the Devils to the league). However, Kovy's contract now ends when he's 42 and while that's not a huge difference in absolute numbers from 44, it's a huge difference in terms of hockey years (and further strengthens the argument that Kovy realistically plans to play out his contract - whether that's bs or not is debatable but it's almost a slam dunk that it puts the league's argument against the contract on a lot more shaky ground). Plus, the 15-year deal now equals the length of other contracts, including the ill-fated DiPietro contract in terms of total years (further strengthens past precedent argument for the Devils). However, that being said, Kovy would still get $90 million over the first 10 years of the contract as opposed to the $95 million/10 years he'd make under the old contract. So yeah, he takes a hit but is it really that substantial? The Devils now absorb a $6.5 million cap, while far less desirable than a $5.88 million cap hit, is still manageable and should still ensure that Parise gets an extended stay with the Devils. The league gets to save face as the point is made that these type of contracts will be fought vigorously (probably a good thing for the league overall). Other GMs and owners will be only able to grumble as they begrudgingly accept the fact that the new Kovy contract is pretty close to Hossa-type deals of yore, etc. In the end, everyone makes a concession. However, for Devils fans, the good news is plentiful. Kovy's cap hit would remain pretty awesome (there's nobody out there who wouldn't have been astounded that we'd be able to sign Kovy for a $6.5 million annual cap hit a few weeks ago, let's be honest). The Devils would now be able to plant the flag as a real Cup contender. One of the best players in the league would be locked up for life by the Devils. And perhaps best of all, Devils fans would be in for one hell of a wild ride come the 2010-2011 season.

[newarkdev01]

The NHL might not like it, but at least it's getting covered. This is a sort of inevitable process when there are loopholes. The NHL didn't force a negotiation over the work around and now GMS must push that route till the new CBA. Honestly, could Kovy end up somewhere else or get a lifelong injury on opening night, the odds are probably the same. This is much more likely to work itself out and just make some good press IMO.

[maxpower]

I'm going to take a stab at predicting the final outcome of the Kovy situation (I realize this is an exercise in insanity but what the heck). The Devils come back and say that the organization believes that if it took its case to the arbitrator or the court system, the Devils would win and the contract would in fact be upheld. However, in the spirit of trying to make this work for everyone involved - the team, player and the league as a whole - the Devils agree to unilaterally submit a revised contract (in part to expedite the process instead of waiting for an independent arbitrator to be reinstated, which could take weeks according to some reports). In the end, the revised contract would look something like this:

2010-11: $6 Million

2011-12: $6 Million

2012-13: $10.5 Million

2013-14: $10.5 Million

2014-15: $11.5 Million

2015-16: $11.5 Million

2016-17: $10.5 Million (no-movement clause ends on June 30, 2017)

2017-18: $9.5 Million

2018-19: $7.5 Million (no-trade clause begins on July 1, 2018)

2019-20: $6.5 Million

2020-21: $3.65 Million

2021-22: $1.75 Million

2022-23: $1.0 Million

2023-24: $550,000

2024-25: $550,000

Total

15 seasons: $97.5 million

So, what does this accomplish? Overall the contract gives Kovy less money in total dollars - a fairly obvious point. The revised deal would also increase the cap hit from $5.88 million to $6.5 million (concession by the Devils to the league). However, Kovy's contract now ends when he's 42 and while that's not a huge difference in absolute numbers from 44, it's a huge difference in terms of hockey years (and further strengthens the argument that Kovy realistically plans to play out his contract - whether that's bs or not is debatable but it's almost a slam dunk that it puts the league's argument against the contract on a lot more shaky ground). Plus, the 15-year deal now equals the length of other contracts, including the ill-fated DiPietro contract in terms of total years (further strengthens past precedent argument for the Devils). However, that being said, Kovy would still get $90 million over the first 10 years of the contract as opposed to the $95 million/10 years he'd make under the old contract. So yeah, he takes a hit but is it really that substantial? The Devils now absorb a $6.5 million cap, while far less desirable than a $5.88 million cap hit, is still manageable and should still ensure that Parise gets an extended stay with the Devils. The league gets to save face as the point is made that these type of contracts will be fought vigorously (probably a good thing for the league overall). Other GMs and owners will be only able to grumble as they begrudgingly accept the fact that the new Kovy contract is pretty close to Hossa-type deals of yore, etc. In the end, everyone makes a concession. However, for Devils fans, the good news is plentiful. Kovy's cap hit would remain pretty awesome (there's nobody out there who wouldn't have been astounded that we'd be able to sign Kovy for a $6.5 million annual cap hit a few weeks ago, let's be honest). The Devils would now be able to plant the flag as a real Cup contender. One of the best players in the league would be locked up for life by the Devils. And perhaps best of all, Devils fans would be in for one hell of a wild ride come the 2010-2011 season.

the thing you're missing is that they could have done this anyway. the question becomes why are they rattling the league's cage over such a small amount of years and cap?

basically, any piece of sh!t contract that is properly salaried out re: the CBA and ends when the player is 42, will be accepted. the league doesn't have any choice.

[grcenter47]

It is the perfect way for them to say, "see hockey is still a joke, here's Lebron throwing a cup into the garbage, ITS OUR TOP 10 PLAY! SIMPLY AMAZING" with a stuart scott "Boo-yah" thrown obnoxiously in there.

god i hate that freaking network now.

Most people on WFAN, especially Mike Francesca, can't stand ESPN especially on their ability reporting news

[DH26]

Most people on WFAN, especially Mike Francesca, can't stand ESPN especially on their ability reporting news

well yeah they're notorious for stealing other people's reports and crediting them to Buster Olney and John Clayton. At least they've got Schefter for the NFL now and he's the best along with Glazer. But they are the biggest group, so they don't care what anyone else thinks

Edited July 22, 2010 by DH26

[David Puddy]

Go figure it takes something like this to get hockey coverage on ESPN.

Hey, at least it's not a McSorley/Bertuzzi incident.

[sokar]

does anyone know how long it might take to get this resolved

[David Puddy]

the thing you're missing is that they could have done this anyway. the question becomes why are they rattling the league's cage over such a small amount of years and cap?

basically, any piece of sh!t contract that is properly salaried out re: the CBA and ends when the player is 42, will be accepted. the league doesn't have any choice.

Pure speculation, maybe Kovy/Grossman insisted on the money and years and Lou warned him that the league would reject the deal. Maybe that is why Lou was so candid about his dislike of these deals, and maybe that is why the press conference proceeded even though Lou was warned the deal may be rejected. I would like to think both sides were aware that this would be the probable outcome and had a plan ready to go. I don't think the nightmare scenario (Lou withheld the info the contract was likely to be rejected) is plausible. If so, Grossman is the biggest idiot of an agent in the universe.

[DH26]

Hey, at least it's not a McSorley/Bertuzzi incident.

Well it's not even on the front page of ESPN.com anymore. But thank God I can at least get a preview of the Brickyard 400 and go iRacing with 3 Jr. Thank God there's no hockey in my NASCAR. NO STICKS CLOGGIN' UP MY CARBURETOR!

Edited July 22, 2010 by DH26

[David Puddy]

does anyone know how long it might take to get this resolved

No. There is no arbitrator in place, so if the NHLPA files a grievance, both sides (NHL/NHLPA) have to find an arbitrator they agree upon and there is no way to tell how long that would take. Also the CBA says that there is no time restriction on the investigation of circumvention.

[devils26]

Just out of curiosity, does this part of the CBA apply to this situation?

26.12 Joint Discussions on Possible Circumventions.

Each Investigator shall notify

the other after he has concluded an investigation under Section 26.10. Within three (3)

days after such notification, and prior to the Investigator's issuance of a report concerning

the results of such investigation, the parties shall meet and confer to try to resolve the

matter. If the parties reach a resolution, the Investigator reserves the discretion as to

whether to issue a report concerning the alleged Circumvention. If the matter is not

resolved, the Investigator shall issue a report concerning the alleged Circumvention.

Neither the NHL nor NHLPA may commence any action before the System Arbitrator

pursuant to Section 26.13 below prior to the parties having met and conferred pursuant tothis Section 26.12.

[Daniel]

does anyone know how long it might take to get this resolved

I think the claims that it will take weeks to find an arbitrator are overblown. I would imagine there is a phone book worth of labor lawyers who can be on the list of potential arbitrators. Both sides can reach some sort of agreement pretty quickly on how the arbitrator will be chosen from the list. (Often each side picks their top five, and there's a mechanism for matching).

The only caveat is that if the NHLPA and the NHL want to slow the process down so that the Devils and Kovalchuk work out some kind of deal that allows both sides to save face, i.e. a deal more or less identical to what Hossa has.

But really, this is all total silliness. You won't have these types of contracts for much longer. That is, the first order of business in the new CBA will be to close the loophole. So long as there is some assurance that the cap will continue to gradually increase, or at the very least not drop dramatically, I think the union will reach some sort of compromise.

There aren't many, if any, UFAs that will be available in the interim who can demand this kind of deal. And those that might be around are more likely to re-sign with their own teams anyway (e.g. Parise). The primary goal of a salary cap, at least from the fan's point of view, is to prevent poaching of other team's home grown talent. In large part, the lifetime deals have been used as a tool for teams to lock up their OWN home grown talent (Zetterberg, Franzen, Richards, DiPietro). Arguably, the Devils kind of fit in this category since they gave up valuable assets to get Kovalchuk, and they never had a reputation of stealing other team's home grown talent. If anything, historically, the talent was always going the other way in the Devils' case.

But this is the NHL, so silliness abounds.

[jagknife]

does anyone know how long it might take to get this resolved

take a bunch of post-its, write the numbers 1-60 on them. put them on your wall, close your eyes and throw a dart at the wall.

whatever number you hit will be anyones best guess to when this farce gets resolved.

[maxpower]

I think the claims that it will take weeks to find an arbitrator are overblown. I would imagine there is a phone book worth of labor lawyers who can be on the list of potential arbitrators. Both sides can reach some sort of agreement pretty quickly on how the arbitrator will be chosen from the list. (Often each side picks their top five, and there's a mechanism for matching).

The only caveat is that if the NHLPA and the NHL want to slow the process down so that the Devils and Kovalchuk work out some kind of deal that allows both sides to save face, i.e. a deal more or less identical to what Hossa has.

But really, this is all total silliness. You won't have these types of contracts for much longer. That is, the first order of business in the new CBA will be to close the loophole. So long as there is some assurance that the cap will continue to gradually increase, or at the very least not drop dramatically, I think the union will reach some sort of compromise.

There aren't many, if any, UFAs that will be available in the interim who can demand this kind of deal. And those that might be around are more likely to re-sign with their own teams anyway (e.g. Parise). The primary goal of a salary cap, at least from the fan's point of view, is to prevent poaching of other team's home grown talent. In large part, the lifetime deals have been used as a tool for teams to lock up their OWN home grown talent (Zetterberg, Franzen, Richards, DiPietro). Arguably, the Devils kind of fit in this category since they gave up valuable assets to get Kovalchuk, and they never had a reputation of stealing other team's home grown talent. If anything, historically, the talent was always going the other way in the Devils' case.

But this is the NHL, so silliness abounds.

the thing is, can they work out a second deal while the first one is in dispute? I don't think they can. It's bizarre.

[Daniel]

the thing is, can they work out a second deal while the first one is in dispute? I don't think they can. It's bizarre.

Even if it somehow contravenes the procedures laid out in the CBA, as a practical matter I don't see why the NHL wouldn't accept a renegotiated deal that would otherwise be acceptable only because it was "too late". It would be akin to a settlement, which judges certainly and arbitrators in cases with a relatively large amount of publicity probably would welcome.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Daniel

[devils26]

Even if it somehow contravenes the procedures laid out in the CBA, as a practical matter I don't see why the NHL wouldn't accept a renegotiated deal that would otherwise be acceptable only because it was "too late". It would be akin to a settlement, which judges certainly and arbitrators in cases with a relatively large amount of publicity probably would welcome.

Look at what I posted above. Does that apply in this situation? If so, it would seem like the involved parties have the chance to remedy the situation before arbitration.

[Daniel]

Look at what I posted above. Does that apply in this situation? If so, it would seem like the involved parties have the chance to remedy the situation before arbitration.

I'm not familiar with what's exactly in the CBA besides what's described here or by sports writers. (I'm admittedly too lazy to go through the whole thing). I haven't heard anyone mention the provision you cited, so I'll assume that for whatever reason it doesn't apply here.

To answer your second question, as a practical matter I would think a renegotiated deal could be reached between the club and the player and approved by the league at any time before a decision by an arbitrator or whoever is made. Again, it would be akin to a settlement which in the real world can be reached at any time.

[Neb00rs]

fvck. I just wanted to add my thoughts on the situation.

[Legion15]

yeah, just saw it on ESPN's bottom line, Burnside saying Lou was aware of the rejection before the press conference. Of course, that's if you believe Burnside's "sources"