Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

[Section N]

Shocking, to say the least.

Nobody has scored more NHL goals in the past 10 years than him, with 388.

He'll be playing this fall in Russia for a heftier salary than here.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=427507

[Angelus]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

I don't get how you can just get out of a contract by retiring and then play in the KHL.

This could be the start of a long legal battle.

[Section N]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

Interesting notes on the cap-recapture clause from the new CBA...

http://capgeek.com/recapture-calcula...aded_year=2013

[Section N]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

I don't get how you can just get out of a contract by retiring and then play in the KHL.

This could be the start of a long legal battle.

As soon as the retirement papers are signed by both parties, it's official. The contract is void.

[Angelus]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

As soon as the retirement papers are signed by both parties, it's official. The contract is void.

Yeah I get that. But it's still circumventing the current cap. This is like a buyout that only costs 250K in cap space a year.

Could Luongo retire, Vancouver terminates his contract, then re-sign him? Or another team re-sign him?

The precedent here is huge.

[Section N]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

Yeah I get that. But it's still circumventing the current cap. This is like a buyout that only costs 250K in cap space a year.

Could Luongo retire, Vancouver terminates his contract, then re-sign him? Or another team re-sign him?

The precedent here is huge.

Yeah, we'll see what comes of this. Like you said, the precedent is huge.

I wonder what Ryder and Clowe are thinking now that they signed as FA's..... Kovy I'm sure was a selling piece of that team.

[Angelus]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

Yeah, we'll see what comes of this. Like you said, the precedent is huge.

I wonder what Ryder and Clowe are thinking now that they signed as FA's..... Kovy I'm sure was a selling piece of that team.

I'd argue they signed those guys to help replace Kovalchuk. There's no way this is news to Lou.

[Section N]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

I'd argue they signed those guys to help replace Kovalchuk. There's no way this is news to Lou.

To Lou no, but to the newly signed guys, maybe.

[Section N]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL will announce their signing of Kovalchuk tomorrow, as per Dmitri Chesnokov.

[Sectionq]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

Looks bad since he was the one that signed the deal but if a guy wants to go home, he has that right. Hell of a player.

Does this open the door for a landing spot for Hemsky? I don't know what the Devils have that would be of interest to the Oilers. I'm hoping the Oilers turn Hemsky into a bigger 3rd line player to fill a hole.

[OK14]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

Looks bad since he was the one that signed the deal but if a guy wants to go home, he has that right.

Does he have that right? As others have said, this reeks of circumventing the Cap and could set a dangerous precedent.

I personally wish that there was some kind of stipulation to force a player to play for the full duration of his contract (not necessarily with the same team), the only exceptions being career-ending injury or a waiver assignment as designated by team management. You can't just walk out of a major commitment like that - especially after everything Lou did to get Kovalchuk there.

This will create an unbelievable mess.

[Inquiring Mind]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

Kinda odd considering he's only one year into the big money years of his contract... EDIT: Nevermind, if they're gonna pay him 20M/yr in Russia, it suddenly makes sense

http://www.capgeek.com/player/339

Unless there was some massive signing bonus, they didn't end up circumventing the cap all that much... especially if this year got pro-rated with the lockout

[Inquiring Mind]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

Yeah I get that. But it's still circumventing the current cap. This is like a buyout that only costs 250K in cap space a year.

Could Luongo retire, Vancouver terminates his contract, then re-sign him? Or another team re-sign him?

The precedent here is huge.

Sounds right... his cap hit was 6.67M/year, and he made 6M for the first two and 11M this year (ignoring lockout), so that would have left him 3M over in aggregate with 12 years left. If he hung on for a few more years it would have been a lot worse.

[Muley69]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

Yeah I get that. But it's still circumventing the current cap. This is like a buyout that only costs 250K in cap space a year.

Could Luongo retire, Vancouver terminates his contract, then re-sign him? Or another team re-sign him?

The precedent here is huge.

The ink isn't really all that dry on the current CBA, and already you've found one of the sources for the NEXT lock-out. LOL

[Deathsdoorstep]

Re: Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

The team can give the player a hassle about it or they can agree to release the player from the contract. The player at that point retires from the NHL, not from working elsewhere. He can become a plumber, dentist or hockey player in the KHL. If he wanted to play in the NHL, he'd have to play for NJ under the terms of his contract.