The Devils already lost one franchise player, Zach Parise, and they could lose another.
Reports surfaced Tuesday that Ilya Kovalchuk might stay overseas instead of returning to the Devils once the 48-game NHL season begins, which is expected to start on Jan. 19.
Kovalchuk signed with SKA St. Petersburg (Russia) of the KHL shortly after the NHL labor agreement expired in September. He played in SKA’s 3-1 loss to Bars Kazan yesterday, and reportedly is waiting until the NHL labor deal is finalized before making his decision upon returning to the NHL. Almost all other NHLers who were playing overseas are back in North America.
The owners plan to vote on the new 10-year agreement Wednesday. The players will vote Thursday and Friday.
“Not in a hurry to get to America. … Time will tell [if I return to the NHL]. Nothing is out of the question,” Kovalchuk said after the game, according to a tweet by Slava Malamud, a contributor and correspondent for Sport-Express in Russia.
Kovalchuk is under contract with the Devils, having signed a 15-year, $100 million deal in 2010. He would be in jeopardy of losing the remaining money left on the contract should he not be with the Devils when camp opens next week. How much of that contract he will make upon a return to the NHL is yet to be determined until the new collective bargaining agreement is signed.
But NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Associated Press in an email the KHL plans to honor its previous agreement with the NHL, which stated that any NHL player who signed a KHL contract would have to honor their existing NHL deal once the lockout ended.
Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello wasn’t worried.
“I have no knowledge of anything other than him coming back,” Lamoriello said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.
Jay Grossman, Kovalchuk’s agent, did not return a telephone call left by The AP.
The Post’s Larry Brooks reported exclusively yesterday that four players — Kovalchuk, Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin — were preparing to issue a statement last Friday announcing their plans to remain in the KHL, even if an NHL labor agreement was reached.
They were guaranteed a large lump sum of money (around $30 million each) by Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the NHL Players Association talked the players out of it. Ovechkin and Malkin have returned to North America, and Datsyuk missed his KHL team’s game yesterday because he was reportedly was heading to Detroit.
A big factor in Kovalchuk’s decision has to do with escrow under the new deal. It could be between 15-to-20 percent, a huge jump up from the 2.3 percent it was during the first year of his contract and the under-1 percent it was last season.
Kovalchuk made $6 million his first and second years of the contract and will make $11 million this season (prorated). That is followed by $10 million or more in salary each season through the 2017-18 season, but with such a high amount removed because of escrow, it explains why staying in Russia is an enticing option.
Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador said he didn’t think the talk of Kovalchuk’s departure is true.
“I expect him here,” he said after skating at the team’s facility yesterday morning.
Andy Greene seemed a bit more concerned, but still said he thinks Kovalchuk will return to the Devils.
“I don’t really look too much into that,” he said. “Obviously we want him here. He is a big part of the team. It’s all speculation.”Kovalchuk led the Devils in scoring in the regular season (37 goals, 83 points) and the postseason (eight goals, 19 points) despite playing with a back injury and a herniated disc.
Mark Fayne, who carpooled with Greene to the Devils facility, said it is important to get Kovalchuk back.
“I think it’s a little better with him here,” he said.
Kovalchuk and Parise, who signed a 13-year $98 million deal with the Wild during the offseason, scored 63 of the team’s goals last season (28 percent). It would be a crippling blow to the defending Eastern Conference champions if Kovalchuk is not on the ice when the season begins.
“I think right now with the KHL it’s kind of bad timing. They are going into their All- Star game and stuff like that, so I think that’s where you’re hearing all that stuff from.”