After it appeared that the Ilya Kovalchuk free agency saga has come to an end, the NHL and Gary Bettman has thrown a curve ball New Jersey's way, rejecting the 17 year, $102 million dollar signing.
On what grounds exactly?
The NHL rejected the contract on the idea that the contract circumvents the NHL’s salary cap rules.
Last I checked, the rules were the rules. I will remind you of the absolutely ludicrous contract of Alexander Ovechkin which consists of 13 years and $124 million he signed in 2008. The deal comes with a healthy annual salary cap hit of roughly $9.5 million.
Did the league step in when that happened? No.
Simply because you find that you aren't a fan of the rules you agreed on, doesn't mean they aren't still what they are.
The NHL cannot simply change the rules because they don't like the outcome. The reason there was a Collective Bargaining Agreement, was to put these rules in place, the key word here being "agreement."
The NHL agreed on these rules. Lou Lamoriello being the hockey mastermind that he is, has found a loophole around it. Mr. Bettman may not like it, but this is a wo ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Samuel Ingro
Ilya Kovalchuk: Rules Are Rules, the Contract Should Stand
July 20th, 2010 by Samuel Ingro Leave a reply »
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