Report: Kovalchuk approval, rules ammendment expected
According to various reports, the NHL and the NHL Players' Association have reached an agreement that will ammend the rules governing long-term contracts.
As part of the agreement, Kovalchuk's current deal, which has been waiting for league approval since late last week, will be accepted. Also, the current long-term contracts for other players, like Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and Marian Hossa of the Blackhawks, will continue to stand.
The annoucement of the ammendment to the collective bargaining agreement and the approval of the Kovalchuk deal is expected by today's 5 p.m. ET deadline.
Reported terms of the latest Kovalchuk deal were 15 years and $100 million, with the yearly breakdown (in millions of dollars) as follows: 6/6/11/11.3/11.3/11.6/11.8/10/7/4/1/1/1/3/4. The previously rejected deal reportedly had Kovalchuk receiving $550,000 in each of the last four years of the contract.
The NHL turned down Kovalchuk's 17-year, $102 million contract with the Devils on July 20, and the ruling was upheld in arbitration on Aug. 9.
Both the league and the arbitrator concluded that the contract was purposely lengthened in order to circumvent the NHL salary cap.
The Devils and Kovalchuk agreed on the framework of a new long-term deal last week, but that was also rejected by the NHL.
Kovalchuk has consistently said he would rather play in the NHL than sign a contract with the Russian Kontinental league, which opens play Sept. 8.
The 27-year-old, who has twice scored 52 goals in a season, is arguably the best-ever unrestricted NHL free agent. The Russian left wing has 338 goals and 304 assists in 642 career games, including 41 goals and 44 assists last season. Atlanta traded him to New Jersey in February.
Newscore contributed to this report.
