This year’s annual flexing of the muscles by the NHL comes at the expense of star winger Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils. In the middle of July, Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils agreed on one of the biggest contracts in the history of sports, at 17 years and $102 million. Devils fans futures betting online for their team to become the next NHL dynasty were foaming at the mouth when Kovalchuk agreed to such a long contract. However sports betting fans around the world were disgusted at how much money Kovalchuk was receiving when the question on everyone’s mind was, what has he accomplished lately?
Enter the NHL administration, who after last year’s disaster with the Phoenix Coyotes, felt they should step in and nullify the deal between the Devils and Kovalchuk. Last year as many may recall, Blackberry founder Jim Balsille a diehard hockey fan with a lot of money, attempted to buy the struggling Phoenix Coyotes franchise and move the team to Southern Ontario. The goal was to not only make the Coyotes an instant money maker in Southern Ontario’s untapped hockey market, but also to show that owners still want to win.
However, the NHL’s administration similar to the Kovalchuk situation decided to flex their muscles and disallow Balsille from buying the Coyotes and move them back to Canada. Ever since the NHL lockout in 2004 – 2005 when the salary cap was instituted, it appears more and more that the NHL under current Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly want to run the league as a dictatorship rather than a democracy.
For instance, one of the pushing points for nullifying the Kovalchuk deal is that it undermines the salary cap on an ethical standpoint. Essentially the contract is setup so that over the first 10 years of the contract Kovalchuk makes seven million a season. Yet for the last seven years he makes the league minimum, and many believe Kovalchuk will retire before the contract finishes. Now the only trouble with this is that it gives the Devils cap relief they may not have had, if Kovalchuk signed a 10 year deal at $102 million. After voiding Kovalchuk’s contract, the NHL is deciding whether to void several other superstars contracts to send a message about trying to get around the salary cap.
