The Devils might have five million reasons to worry about the Players Association’s expected filing for arbitration of Ilya Kovalchuk’s rejected contract.
A league source said the NHL is not threatening, but also not dismissing the possibility that the Devils might be liable for a fine of at least $1 million. The fine could go up to $5 million should an arbitrator finds that their $102 million, 17-year contract is indeed a circumvention of the collective bargaining agreement.
In addition, Kovalchuk himself conceivably could be liable to a fine between $250G and $1 million.
The Players Association can file a grievance by tomorrow afternoon against the league’s rejection Tuesday of the landmark contract. The case would likely then go to arbitration, failing a negotiated settlement, and the sides would have to agree on a “system arbitrator” to decide the case. If the league is overruled, the contract will stand. If the league is upheld, Kovalchuk will again become unrestricted and the NHL would then have to decide whether to pursue fines or even draft choice losses.
The league source said the NHL is taking one step at a time, “making those decisions as things unfold,” in this case, which is a ground-breaking test of the collective bargaining agreement and its failure to specifically prohibit such long, long-term front-loaded contracts.