The Devils have submitted an Ilya Kovalchuk contract proposal to the NHL. Multiple sources are reporting that news, including Dimitry Chesnokov of Puck Daddy and Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record. Chesnokov is reporting that the deal will be approved by the NHL.
Devils Submit New Kovalchuk Contract, Waiting On NHL Approval
Gulitti backed off a bit today, saying that things weren’t necessarily completely finalized. It does appear as if this thing will be done, though.
The terms of this contract are not yet known, but it’ll obviously be interesting to see what kind of cap hit the Devils were forced to take on and how long this deal will be in length.
Whether you’re a Devils fan or not, if this thing does become final, this is good news for the NHL. Kovalchuk will be staying in North America after it looked like there was a very strong possibility of him heading to the KHL, at least on a temporary basis, and there’s no denying that losing a talent like that would’ve been a terrible black eye for the league.
The players wouldn’t have been happy and it could’ve further polarized the League and the NHLPA, and since it looks like Donald Fehr will be at the helm sooner rather than later... well, it wouldn’t have helped relations.
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