NHL Fines the Devils for Circumvention

Written by tsn.ca    PDF Print E-mail

The NHL has come down hard on the New Jersey Devils for deliberately circumventing the league's salary cap in their original attempt to sign forward Ilya Kovalchuk.

The league announced in a press release Monday that they have fined the Devils $3 million and that the club will forfeit their third-round draft choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft as well as a first-round draft choice in one of the next four NHL Entry Drafts.

It will be the Devils' decision which year they will forfeit the first round choice.  They must advise the NHL of their decision by the day following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final in the calendar year in which the pick will be forfeited.

The $3 million that the Devils were fined will go to the league's primary charity, the NHL Foundation.

According to the statement there will be no corresponding reduction in the club's cap space for the fine.  The League now considers the matter closed and according to the statement will have no further comment on the situation.

The punishment was implemented after an independent arbitrator, Richard Bloch, ruled that the 17-year, $102 million contract that Kovalchuk and the Devils agreed to in July attempted to circumvent the NHL's salary cap.  The deal was heavily front-loaded with Kovalchuk earning $95 million over the first 10 years of the deal, but only $7 million over the final seven seasons, reducing the cost against the salary cap to $6 million per year.  Should the deal have been allowed, Kovalchuk would be 44-years old when the contract expired.

Read the Full Story at http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=333690

Tags: New Jersey Devils Trade Rumors
NHL Trade Rumor Created on Tuesday, 14 September 2010 08:35
 

This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.