My Suggestion To Solve The Kovalchuk And Similar Situations In The Future!!

Obviously there is a lot of talk surrounding the Kovalchuk situation and what will come out of it.  Well the talk of a lockout and maybe even the NHL going after other contracts already signed is being passed around.  The new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be worked on by the NHL and NHLPA and all other parties in the coming years and this situation will most likely be at the top of both sides talking boards.

Well I believe I have come up with an easy solution that based on both sides argument should easily please both sides.  If the NHLPA/Devils do not agree with it then obviously they were planning on circumventing the cap and having Kovalchuk not play his final 5-7 years of his contract.

So join me after this for my suggestion and why it "should" work....


My plan would be that should a player retire with more then three years left on his contract that the team should still have to pay his cap hit. It's simple and should work without a problem.  Now of course if a player is forced to retire due to injury then the cap hit could go away.  But the player would be subject to going through extra tests from doctors on both sides to make sure he cannot play anymore.  This should give players room to retire at a respectable age and not count against the cap hit.

The Devils claim they are not circumventing the cap and plan on having Kovalchuk around for the whole contract or at least most of it.  They claim the lower salary at the end of the contract is what a player at that age would make.  Well that's fine and I agree with both points and if the Devils really feel that way then they would not have a problem with implementing this rule.  And if they deny it then they are obviously under the impression that Kovalchuk will not play those years.  They would be on the hook for his $6.5M well into his 40's and if what they have said is true then that's the way it should be.  Now this rule would not go into affect until after this charade is done but I am just using the Kovalchuk dispute as an example on how it would work.

The main issue the NHL has with this contract is that the Devils are circumventing the cap and this would take away that issue as the Devils would be on the hook for the cap hit so it would be stupid for the Devils to drag it out as they would be have him under a $6.5M cap hit possibly 5-7 years after he retires.  I cannot see anyway the NHL would be against this proposal.  Yeah players could be locked up for a crazy amount of years but the team would have that cap hit for that same amount of years no matter what.  Unless the player has a career ending injury or retires with less then 3 years left on the deal.

Like previously stated if both sides believe in what they are doing and stand by what they have said then I cannot see how this deal would not work. 

Leave a comment and let me know your opinion or @ me on twitter @NYRangers365 and let me know what you think of this proposal.