League Hands Down Kovalchuk-Penalty To Devils

Even though the New Jersey Devils have their Russian sniper for the remainder of his career and the collective bargaining agreement has been amended to prevent future contracts like one Ilya Kovalchuk received from ever happening again, that does not mean all is well. The NHL still had the option of punishing the Devils for attempting to circumvent the salary cap in their original offer to the 27-year old that included $102 million in compensation over 17 years.

On Monday evening, the league handed down its ruling that includes a mixture of fines and loss of draft picks to New Jersey. Per the NHL's statement, the Devils will lose a first round selection in one of the next four years, as well as a third rounder in 2011. The Devils have the choice of which year between 2011 and 2014 they wish to cede their first round pick and must advise the NHL the day following the completion of the Stanley Cup Finals of that year. These picks are simply eliminated from their respective year's draft.

Additionally, the Devils will pay a $3 million fine. However, that is strictly money and the team will not suffer any kind of salary cap hit. According to Tom Gulitti, the money will go to the NHL Foundation.

In all, that's a pretty hefty price to pay for a move I'm still convinced General Manager Lou Lamoriello did not want to make in the first place, but likely did so at the pushing of ownership. The $3 million is not that big of a deal, but the loss of at least the first round pick hurts a team that always touts its drafting prowess and will need its minor league system more than ever as New Jersey transitions away from guys like Martin Brodeur and Patrick Elias.

The Devils have the option of appealing this ruling, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie. But that appeals process goes through the NHL Board of Governors, so the Devils would likely have very little luck there.

Roberto Luongo Relinquishes Captaincy, Pressure As Canucks Captain

When the Vancouver Canucks chose to designate Roberto Luongo as team captain two years ago, it was kind of groundbreaking. Not only would he be just the sixth goaltender in NHL history to assume the role, but it had been 60 years since Bull Durnam was captain of the Montreal Canadiens and effectively forced the NHL to prohibit goalies from acting as a captain or alternate captain. You see, Durnan would lug himself out of the goal crease so often during games to argue calls that opponents complained it gave the Habs frequent unscheduled timeouts. Thus, the “Durnan Rule” was put into effect and no netminder since him would be granted a “C” or “A”.

To this day, the NHL still restricts goalies from wearing those letters on their jerseys and cting as a captain when it comes to talking with officials or taking ceremonial faceoffs. However, a goalie can be designated a captain for locker room purposes. And it only took six decades for a team to finally do it.



At the time that the Canucks tabbed Luongo as their lead man and painted a “C” on his mask instead, it was the right move for the team to make. Previous captain Markus Naslund vacated the spot when he left for the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent and nobody else on the team embodied the leadership and experience required to lead on and off the ice like Luongo.

“Selecting Roberto Luongo as our Captain is a significant decision for our entire organization,” General Manager Mike Gillis said in a statement on Sept. 30, 2008. “Alain [Vignault] and I were looking for someone to lead this team, who inspires his teammates, is respected for his on-ice accomplishments and who embodies the core values we are striving for as a hockey club.”

To be fair, offense was down as the team shifted to become more defensive, the Sedin twins had not yet completely broken out as studs and Luongo was the face of the franchise. The team’s success was believed to be on his shoulders in every conceivable way.

That's not quite the case anymore and Luongo has decided being captain is not the best fit for him. He met with Gillis on Sunday evening and the GM informed the rest of the world on Monday the team would be seeking a new man to sport the “C”.

The Beginning of Crosby's Cross-Over Baseball Career?

Sidney Crosby is more than just one of the best hockey players skating NHL ice today. He is an athlete at the core. So while taking some batting practice swings with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Sept. 8, it should have come as no surprise that the captain of the Penguins was able to smack one about 360 feet.

Crosby explained to a reporter after his long ball swing that he played baseball until he was 13 years old. In contrast to Tom Glavine but just like pretty much every other Canadian, Crosby chose to pursue hockey. Hopefully that works out for him.

If Crosby does decide to eventually have a Michael Jordan moment, he should find little problem immediately making the Pirates' roster. After all, there is always an open spot from the constant trading done by the organization of any player that can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. A couple more home runs like the one he hit last Wednesday, though , and he could end up on the block, too.

News From Around The Crease: Fedotenko Attending Rangers Camp, Thrashers Moving Byfuglien To D, Avs Re-Sign Mueller

~ A career-worst performance with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year brought his two-year tenure with the club to an end. At 31 years old and still an unrestricted free agent, Ruslan Fedotenko has decided to accept an invitation from the New York Rangers to attend their training camp on a tryout basis and potentially earn a contract to reunite with head coach John Tortorella from their Tampa Bay Lightning days.

Larry Brooks of The New York Post broke the news Tuesday that the Rangers invited Fedotenko to camp, and TSN confirmed on Friday evening that Fedotenko did accept the offer.

This is a case of the Rangers trying to catch a guy rebounding off a bad year in hopes that he can rekindle his success as a depth player capable of netting important goals in critical situations. He only posted 11 goals and 30 total points last season to go along with a horrendous minus-18 rating with the Penguins. But he typically is a 15- to 20-goal scorer with a pretty decent playoff history and two Stanley Cups to his name. He scored 12 goals in the 2004 postseason in which the Lightning won the Cup, including both goals in Game 7 of the Finals against the Calgary Flames.

Since this is strictly a tryout, it's really is a no-risk situation for the Rangers. If he plays hard and will agree to essentially a minimum salary contract, New York can definitely benefit from the the veteran playing a wing position on the third or fourth line. If he fails, they cut him loose and he'll probably end up in Russia. Either way, the Rangers get to see what he has to offer. And if anybody can push him to be his best, it's Tortorella.

NHL And NHLPA Accept Kovalchuk's Deal As Part Of Amending CBA Rules For Future Long-Term Contracts

The saga that started almost a month and a half ago has finally reached its conclusion (pending the completion of paperwork expected to hammered out very soon.) TSN's Darren Dreger has reported that Ilya Kovalchuk is on his way to becoming a New Jersey Devil for the next 15 seasons as part of an agreement between the NHL and NHLPA to amend the rules of the collective bargaining agreement regarding long-term contracts from here on out. Kovalchuk's deal, valued at $100 million over those 15 seasons, will be the last of its kind and any further contracts will play by new rules.

According to Dreger, long-term contracts are now clearly defined as those consisting of five or more years. The new rules essentially target the ages of 35 and 40 when it pertains to player contracts.

The first change calls for any contract signed by a player beyond the age of 40 years old to have his annual average salary (i.e., cap hit) only calculate for those years up to and including the season in which he is 40 years old.

For long-term contracts extending beyond the age of 40, the contract's average annual value for the years up to and including 40, are calculated by dividing total value in those years by the number of years up to and including 40. Then for the years covering ages 41 and beyond, the cap charge in each year is equal to the value of the contract in that year. (credit: Darren Dreger)