NHL rejects Devils' deal with Kovalchuk

Yesterday, fans of the New Jersey Devils danced in happiness as the Devils signed the most sought-after free agent on the market, Ilya Kovalchuk to a 17-year $102 million contract.

Today however, they shake their heads in disbelief.

The National Hockey League, led by Commissioner Gary Bettman, rejected Kovalchuk's deal with the Devils due to the fact that the contract circumvents (evades, bypasses) the NHL's salary cap. The deal, which was set to be the largest in the history of the NHL, for now, has been put on hold.

ESPN has the details:

"The contract was rejected because years of low salary at the end of the contract were added for the sole purpose of lowering the cap hit, a person familiar with the issues raised told The Associated Press. The person added that no side believes Kovalchuk will play the final years of the deal at those terms. The star forward was slated to earn only $550,000 in each of the last five seasons of the contract that was to run through the 2026-27 season, when Kovalchuk would be 44.

Kovalchuk was to earn $6 million each of the next two seasons, $11.5 million for the following five seasons, $10.5 million in the 2017-18 season, $8.5 million for the 2018-19 season, $6.5 million in 2019-20, $3.5 million in 2020-21, $750,000 the following season, and $550,000 for the final five years of the unprecedented deal."

The National Hockey League Players' Association has five days from Wednesday to grieve the rejection of the contract. If a grievance is filed against the NHL, an arbitrator, who will have to be agreed upon by the league and the NHL players' union, will have two days to determine if the rejection of Kovalchuk's deal was valid or not. If the deal is voided, Kovalchuk will still be an unrestricted free agent and can be signed by any team.

It certainly isn't the first disagreement the NHL has had over long term contracts, including reviews of:

- The Philadelphia Flyers' seven-year, $34.45-millon deal with Chris Pronger
- The Vancouver Canucks' 12-year, $64-million deal with Roberto Luongo
- The Chicago Blackhawks' 12-year, $62.8-million contract with Marian Hossa

This is going to be an interesting case. Hopefully the league can sort this whole thing out and Kovy can return to the Devils and earn the money he deserves since he is one of the NHL's best players. Could the Los Angeles Kings jump back in? Could the KHL still be interested? Discuss it in the comments.