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Jedi

Ilya Kovalchuk announces retirement

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A part in it? He's the GM. He put together the deal. And losing the pick and getting fined is 100% on Lou. He runs the team. Not Kovalchuk.

And how is it hiding behind the family excuse? How could you possibly know his real motives? If I had to pick one, the more believable scenario, which is the one he described, is that in the lockout shortened season he realized how much he liked being back in Russia around family.

Overall this sounds like the a mutually beneficial decision. Kovaluchuk goes to Russia to be with family and play hockey there, Lou gets out of the terrible contract he gave him.

Kovalchuk is a great player but the franchise is now free of what was a potentially crippling contract under the lowered cap. I don't know what their current financial situation is but the Devils have had trouble paying their bills the last several seasons. They owed Kovalchuk over $11 million dollars a year for the next 4 years.

The guy left $77 million on the table. Sure he may eventually make that in the KHL but he had a guaranteed contract for that amount. That's a lot different than the potential earnings.

If anything I could see faulting him for the timing of the retirement. It's certainly going to leave a huge hole in their lineup. But in the long term walking away from his contract could be the best thing that happened to the Devils.

yes lou put together the deal but kovalchuk signed off on it as well. the devils went through hoops to get this guy and he bails on them at the worst possible time. and like i mentioned earlier, he should have just stayed in russia after the lockout if he truly missed his family.

77 million figure is very misleading. how much of that is actually left after escrow and taxes. he's lucky if he gets even half that in his pocket when all said and done. he will make that up in the khl in no time.

if i was other russian players trying to get to the nhl, i would be pissed at him right now. who is going to want to draft a russian when there's the very real possibility that they bail and go to the khl.

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I'm shocked by this as well but does anybody else think its way too convenient that kovy bolts and the devils aren't fighting it. The devils are financially strapped, kovy still had 12 yrs left on his contract. Its just a little weird to me they aren't fighting this.

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Guest Crymson

I'm shocked by this as well but does anybody else think its way too convenient that kovy bolts and the devils aren't fighting it. The devils are financially strapped, kovy still had 12 yrs left on his contract. Its just a little weird to me they aren't fighting this.

The Devils can't make him not retire.

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yes lou put together the deal but kovalchuk signed off on it as well. the devils went through hoops to get this guy and he bails on them at the worst possible time. and like i mentioned earlier, he should have just stayed in russia after the lockout if he truly missed his family.

It is fairly clear that Devils were aware of this possibility for a while. And I would not be surprised if the are fully on-board with this including the timing. Who knows, maybe they did not want the fan pressure of having to compete for high-priced free agents if Kovalchuk were to announce it one week earlier. And now they just going to sign some cheap guy fill open roster spot.

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It is fairly clear that Devils were aware of this possibility for a while. And I would not be surprised if the are fully on-board with this including the timing. Who knows, maybe they did not want the fan pressure of having to compete for high-priced free agents if Kovalchuk were to announce it one week earlier. And now they just going to sign some cheap guy fill open roster spot.

Who knows about the timing. It certainly doesn't seem ideal. But they clearly aren't fighting it, likely because it benefits them so much overall. They don't have to terminate his contract. They're choosing to.

Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie 8h

1. Mutual (player and club agree) termination of an NHL contract not that unusual but usually involves lower-profile players.

Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie 8h

2. If NJ had so chosen, it could've blocked Kovalchuk from the KHL by tolling contract. But NJ isn't doing that, he's free to go to KHL.

I'm shocked by this as well but does anybody else think its way too convenient that kovy bolts and the devils aren't fighting it. The devils are financially strapped, kovy still had 12 yrs left on his contract. Its just a little weird to me they aren't fighting this.

Exactly.

They aren't fighting it because ultimately it should help the franchise (if they use their new found cap space and money wisely).

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Per @NHLDevilsPR (The NJD communications department twitter feed)...

Looks like the Devils won't get hit too hard with his "recapture" penalty for retirement, according to CapGeek. $250k/year, which isn't too bad. But it's until 2024/2025... :blink:

Welllllll.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-fraAN7in4

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Guest The Axe

and most likely a step behind in the standings :P (for at least this season anyway)

He'll find a way. They have debt to pay off first.

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He'll find a way. They have debt to pay off first.

oh yeah, not a doubt in my mind they'll be back up in the playoffs.. esspecially with schnider as their next tendy. its just going to take a little time, that's all.

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Guest The Axe

oh yeah, not a doubt in my mind they'll be back up in the playoffs.. esspecially with schnider as their next tendy. its just going to take a little time, that's all.

Agreed. And probably less than we all think.

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So now Jersey loses Clarkson and Kovalchuk. I heard they signed Ryder, which is good for them, but then they way overpaid for Clowe. All in all, they will likely finish bottom 5 this year. Oh well, good thing I never liked Jersey. I feel bad that in Brodeur's probable last NHL season, his team will be so terrible that he likely won't get a last playoff run.

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Guest Crymson

Wow. He was gonna make a crap ton of money over the next few years too and he is only 30 right in his prime. Kind of a **** no e by him

He'll make quite a bit more with the KHL's tax-free contracts.

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Guest DeGraa55

He'll make quite a bit more with the KHL's tax-free contracts.

Plus he is by his family. And you can't put a price on that.

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I think this is the start of something really big. Shure, Bumistrov, Kostitsyn, they mabye want to be stars on their teams and so on, but Ilya to KHL? This is huuuuge for the KHL. 20 Years from now, the top KHL teams and top NHL teams mabye will be on the same level.

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Sure you can. 75 million over 5 years would have done it

Of which after escrow & taxes, he wouldn't have even seen half of. He'll get at least that & all tax free in the KHL. By "at least that" I mean the $75m over the next 5 seasons.

Edited by ogreslayer

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