Ilya Kovalchuk Signs 17-year Deal with New Jersey Devils

No, that is not a misprint. Top free agent, forward Ilya Kovalchuk, signed a 17-year deal with the New Jersey Devils today. The deal is reported at just over $100 million. He had offers from the Los Angeles Kings and New York Islanders but decided to stay with the Devils. The Thrashers traded Kovalchuk to the Devils in early February after he rejected a 12-year $101 million contract extension. Ridiculously long contracts are becoming standard in the NHL these days as teams try to stay under the cap. Most of the deals are front-loaded so the teams pay stars lots of money while keeping the salary cap hit to a minimum. Kovalchuk recently turned 27 and will be 44 when the contract ends (if he even plays until then).

Kovalchuk joins Alex Ovechkin, Roberto Luongo, Rick DiPietro, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and Henrik Zetterberg as other players signed through at least the 2020-2021 season. Giving long contracts is basically a way for NHL teams to cheat the salary cap. Looking at the 12-year deal the Blackhawks gave to Marian Hossa is a perfect example. They gave him $62.8 million over 12 years, an average salary of $5.233 million per year. The Blackhawks are paying him $7.9 million per year for the first 7 years but he will only count $5.233 million against the salary cap (because the CBA states that the cap hit will be the average annual salary). In the final 5 years (when he is 37-years old+) he will be making $4 million, $1 million, $1 million, $750,000, $750,000 respectively. If he plays those years he would count $5.233 against the cap even though he is making much less but the Blackhawks are banking on the fact that he won't play into or past his late 30s. It's a great risk for the Blackhawks considering NHL players usually don't play into their late 30s and rarely go into their 40s.

UPDATE: The year-by-year payments have been released. Kovalchuk will count $6 million against the cap each year even when he will be making $11.5 million from 2012-2017.

2010-11: $6 million
2011-12: $6 million
2012-13: $11.5 million
2013-14: $11.5 million
2014-15: $11.5 million
2015-16: $11.5 million
2016-17: $11.5 million
2017-18: $10.5 million
2018-19: $8.5 million
2019-20: $6.5 million
2020-21: $3.5 Million
2021-22: $750,000
2022-23: $550,000
2023-24: $550,000
2024-25: $550,000
2025-26: $550,000
2026-27: $550,000

So it looks like Kovalchuk will be retiring around 2020.

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Dream Team

Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh announced today that they will both sign with the Miami Heat. This is great news for Miami as they have a legitimate chance to win multiple championships if they can just add a few pieces around them. Of course, they are still waiting to hear where Lebron James signs when he makes his decision at 9pm EST tomorrow night on ESPN. Wade and Bosh said they are willing to take pay cuts to play with Lebron in Miami but they did not know the specifics of their deals.

The Heat only have 4 players currently signed to their roster (Wade, Bosh, Chalmers, Beasley) and desperately need to add a small forward and center. The Miami Herald listed players such as Mike Miller, Josh Howard, Richard Jefferson, Kyle Korver, Rasual Butler and Matt Barnes as small forward targets while Brendan Haywood would be the top center target. If Lebron signs with the Heat they will have very little money to work and likely won't be able to sign any of those names but a trio of Lebron, Wade and Bosh surrounded by anything would be nasty.

Paul Pierce Joins NBA Free-For-All

The NBA free agency period starts in less than 9 hours and it's going to be wild, like Robert Downey Jr. at an open bar. Paul Pierce decided to opt out of the last year of his contract (he would have made $21.5 million) and joins a ridiculous list of players set to cash in. Pierce will be 33 in October so he probably only has 1 big contract remaining. It's a semi-risky move, walking away from $21.5 million in hopes that he can sign a big contract, but it should pay off.

There are two scenarios rumored to be taking shape right now. 1) Lebron and Bosh sign with Chicago. 2) Lebron, Bosh and Wade sign with Miami. If scenario 1 happens, Miami will be looking to add a big time player and that might mean Paul Pierce. The Heat currently only have Wade, Beasley and Chalmers under contract so they have a ton of cap space. If scenario 2 happens, Chicago will be looking to add 2 top free agents and Pierce could be one.


Teams such as the Nets, Knicks and Clippers will also be looking to add a player like Pierce if they miss out on the Lebron/Wade/Bosh sweepstakes. In any case it likely means the end of the "Big 3" in Boston. They had a good run and will need to rebuild with Ray Allen also possibly leaving and Kevin Garnett's contract up after next season.

Party in the City Where the Heat is On

It is being reported that Lebron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade will sign with the Miami Heat when free agency starts on Thursday. This news comes a few days after it was reported that Lebron and Bosh to Chicago was a "done deal". I don't believe anything with Lebron news until it actually happens so take this news with a grain of salt but I have been predicting Lebron to the Heat all along. The Heat will have to move Beasley and his laziness if they want to free up enough cap space to sign the 3 but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

P.S. Hey Blog Dylan, I listened to the podcast...specifically the part where you called me out about predicting Lebron to the Heat because you picked the Bulls...how's that karma treating you Riiiiccckkkyyy?

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