Someone on 950 said that there are no cap penalties that he just comes off.
- mayorofangrytown

The fallout from this, per Tom Gulitti:

Devils will be charged $250,000 vs. cap for each season through 2024-25 as the cap recapture penalty.

Devils do not have to pay Kovalchk if he's retired. Can void his contract once he officially retires.

Of course, Devils still have to give up first-round pick in 2014 for being found guilty of cap circumvention.

Kovy walked away from $77M.

Yes, wonderful day. All they lost was 2 first round picks, Bergfores, Odulya, Cormier, Parise, Clarkson...

Bet they wish that had that 9th overall back and took Nichushkin....
- youarewrong

Kovalchuk saved the NJD a huge buyout. Almost like Bryz retiring and going to the KHL except Kovalchuk is still a good player but not at a $6.7M cap hit with 12 years left.

They would've had to pay him $11M+ per year for the next four years and $10M in the 5th not counting the 7 yrs after that. Huge albatross of a contract.

Kovalchuk joining Tim Thomas in KHL as part of the all-quitters team.

This team is in TROUBLE. Say goodbye to Jersey. They couldn't get fans in the seats when they win, image what it will be like when they lose for the next 10 years. This is your new Seattle team.
- youarewrong

die, nj devils, die. a horrible, painful death.

Why couldn't Breeze be as considerate at the end of last season?

I know this now gives some cap space for Lou to play with, but the thing is, he's now got a huge hole to fill on a team that, frankly, you wonder if they were gonna make the playoffs with Kovy.
- johndewar

What a beat thing to do to wait until after the free agent frenzy to screw your team. Makes it much harder to replace him. I know there were no free agents this year that could really replace him, but still...

Maybe not, if they move to Seattle then both conferences have 15 teams. Seems more even, actually.
- JAKEw1234

The NHL's going to expand over the next few years to 32 teams. That's essentially a given; they aren't giving up on that kind of money. The only question is how do they add Quebec without ending up with 17 teams in the East, and moving NJ or FLA is pretty much the only way to do it.

Besides, 8/7 8/7 is more balanced from a conference standpoint, but it's imbalanced within each conference, and they're not going back to the 5x6 structure. If they wanted to keep that, they would have.

This can't be true. Why would he just decide to give up all of that money? Is he going to Russia?
- PhillySportsGuy

He'll get just as much or more in KHL from oil oligarch money.

I know this now gives some cap space for Lou to play with, but the thing is, he's now got a huge hole to fill on a team that, frankly, you wonder if they were gonna make the playoffs with Kovy.
- johndewar

They don't have much skill left on the FA market. They don't have very many good offensive prospects. They used their 1st rounder this year on Schneider and next years is being taken away.

I have a feeling NJ may end up being a perfect fit for Jagr.

die, nj devils, die. a horrible, painful death.
- hammarby31

on the bright side, VIVA SEATTLE SEALS!

So if NJ sucks this year big time, they forfeit whatever top pick they'd get. Yikes.

He'll get just as much or more in KHL from oil oligarch money.
- bmeltzer

The ole oil oligarch fund

die, nj devils, die. a horrible, painful death.
- hammarby31

I rejoiced. Then felt bad for the kids who wear his jersey. Then remembered those twerps saw a Stanley Cup in their lifetimes... Good riddance.

on the bright side, VIVA SEATTLE SEALS!
- JAKEw1234

i really do hope seattle gets a team. maybe even portland. would love a real northwestern rivalry from san jose up to vancouver. wonder what the name would actually be...doubt they'd go old school seattle metropolitans.

no question jagr ends up in jersey now

They don't have much skill left on the FA market. They don't have very many good offensive prospects. They used their 1st rounder this year on Schneider and next years is being taken away.

I have a feeling NJ may end up being a perfect fit for Jagr.
- PhillySportsGuy

Now you know why Lou was so desperate to re-sign Elias and to get Ryan Clowe even though it cost 5-years @ $4.85M... I wonder if Elias and Clowe knew about Kovi before they signed... if not, they must be pissed now.

I rejoiced. Then felt bad for the kids who wear his jersey. Then remembered those twerps saw a Stanley Cup in their lifetimes... Good riddance.
- aosplayo

(frank) them. every. single. one.

They don't have much skill left on the FA market. They don't have very many good offensive prospects. They used their 1st rounder this year on Schneider and next years is being taken away.

I have a feeling NJ may end up being a perfect fit for Jagr.
- PhillySportsGuy

He's surely play on the first PP unit. Not so sure he'll have much of a chance at the Cup, though.

no question jagr ends up in jersey now
- Crimsoninja

I hope he demands the players all wear mickey mouse ears on their helmets this season - as part of his contract.

The NHL's going to expand over the next few years to 32 teams. That's essentially a given; they aren't giving up on that kind of money. The only question is how do they add Quebec without ending up with 17 teams in the East, and moving NJ or FLA is pretty much the only way to do it.

Besides, 8/7 8/7 is more balanced from a conference standpoint, but it's imbalanced within each conference, and they're not going back to the 5x6 structure. If they wanted to keep that, they would have.
- dilbert719

True true, but I hate that it's harder to make the playoffs in the east than the west.

no question jagr ends up in jersey now
- Crimsoninja

They already have their quota of players over 40.

Despite what most people think, the correlation between FO% and team performance is very weak, especially in the playoffs where we just saw the top FO team get beaten in 6 by one of the poorest FO teams.

Fans fixate on FO% because they always hang on to those anecdotal moments where a guy loses a draw clean and a goal gets scored. What they don't remember are the vast majority of FO's that are uneventful and have very little impact on the score.

Fans especially fixate on guys like Hall, Konopka, Gaustad, Steckel who have gaudy %'s, but see so little ice that they don't even take that many faceoffs to begin with. We'd like to imagine that Hall is going to get put out there to win a critical draw, because it sounds nice on paper, but coach's aren't going to roll the dice on an unfavorable matchup just to increase the likelihood of winning the draw by a few %-points. It's no wonder you see guys like Hall in and out of the lineup, on waivers, in the AHL, etc. -- they're just not that important.
- Tomahawk

Regardless of their correlation to team performance, faceoffs had a significant effect on the way Giroux was deployed last year. Also, I don't remember Konopka, Gaustad, or Steckel having been on waivers or in the AHL in recent years. Of the 3, only Steckel has bounced around recently and each time a team has been willing to give up some kind of compensation to get him at a cap hit that exceeds Hall's by $500,000. His presence on the roster means that Giroux can be deployed in a way that better suits his skill set.

Also, part of my point is that Laughton could have more to gain long term from spending a year being counted on as a leader and offensive threat in the OHL than he would playing less than 10:00 minutes a night on the Flyers 4th line. Why not have Hall take those minutes at a lower cap hit than Laughton's ELC? It's not like he has dominated to the point where he has nothing left to learn by staying in Juniors the way Couturier did. Why not wait until next season when he is theoritically more developed to start and thus maximize the value of his ELC?

Yup, tax-free mega deal probably already lined up. Big victory for the KHL.
- Tomahawk

Well, the tax status will probably depend on his citizenship. Pretty sure the tax free thing with KHL contracts has to do with citizenship.

i really do hope seattle gets a team. maybe even portland. would love a real northwestern rivalry from san jose up to vancouver. wonder what the name would actually be...doubt they'd go old school seattle metropolitans.
- hammarby31

It wouldn't be intimidating, but Portland is the city of roses.
The Portland Roses shall strike fear in the hearts of their rivals

Now you know why Lou was so desperate to re-sign Elias and to get Ryan Clowe even though it cost 5-years @ $4.85M... I wonder if Elias and Clowe knew about Kovi before they signed... if not, they must be pissed now.
- Tomahawk

I doubt either is pissed considering how much they're being paid. I'm not so sure Kovalchuk made the team THAT much better. I think it was all the things they lost after he signed that really hurt.