Well, most New Jersey Devils fans were probably enjoying their Thursday afternoon until the Devils announced arguably the most shocking and unfortunate news in the history of the franchise. Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement from the NHL at a mere 30 years of age.
So how will Devils fans react? It’s been a common occurrence for a player on the Devils to sign with a team closer to home as of late. Kovalchuk is simply following the trend.
Stating that the Devils invested so much in Kovalchuk is a vague statement, so here’s the cost of Kovalchuk's leave broken down.
First, the Devils traded Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, a second-round pick and a first-round pick in exchange for Kovalchuk at the 2010 trade deadline (They also received a second-round pick and Anssi Salmela). At the time Kovalchuk had one year remaining on his contract that paid him $7.5 million.
When Kovalchuk’s contract expired at the end of the 2009-2010 season, controversy erupted when the Devils re-signed him to a 17-year $102 million contract. The league rejected the contract because it was back-loaded and circumvented the NHL& ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Alex Bacon
Ilya Kovalchuk Retires: What He Cost the Devils and How They Will Move Forward
July 11th, 2013 by Alex Bacon Leave a reply »
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