Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said Tuesday he doesn’t know if or when the team will be able to sign Ilya Kovalchuk to another contract after their first agreement was nixed by an arbitrator.
Lamoriello told NJ.com “I don’t have any idea” how long it would take to conjure up a new agreement, but “We want him to be a Devil and we’ll do whatever we possibly can.”
Kovalchuk became a free agent July 1 and the two sides agreed on a complex, 17-year, $102 million contract that was announced July 19. The NHL challenged it because it claimed its length was designed to circumvent the salary cap, and arbitrator Richard Bloch on Monday agreed with the league and ruled the deal invalid.
“I really have no further comment until everything is resolved with reference to Ilya’s future here. We very much would like to have him be a Devil,” Lamoriello said. “I think I’m going to leave it at that and not get into anything that has transpired.”
Kovalchuk reportedly is at home in Russia.
The website reveals the entire lengthy decision from Bloch. It says, in part, “The record reflects that the result of this (contract), considered in its entirety, is to artificially extend the term of that agreement, thereby decreasing the annual salary cap figure and increasing the Club’s payroll room in a manner that serves to defeat the intentions of the parties as manifested in the Team Payroll Range provisions.”
The Los Angeles Times today reported that the Kings, the primary competition for the Devils in signing Kovalchuk, may no longer be interested after signing Alexei Ponikarovsky for next season at $3.2 million.
“Kings general manager Dean Lombardi also had said he didn’t want to sign Kovalchuk if it meant stifling his team’s chances at re-signing defenseman Drew Doughty, who becomes a restricted free agent next summer,” the report says.
The Kings reportedly offered Kovalchuk a 15-year deal worth $80 million, the exact $6 million salary cap hit the Devils agreed to over 17 years.