19-Day Free Agency Marathon Comes To An End: Kovalchuk Remains a New Jersey Devil

 

UPDATE: TSN has reported salary figures in line with what Michael Russo previously laid out. Kovalchuk's $102 million deal over the next 17 years will pay him $6 million in Years 1 and 2, $11.5 million in Years 3-7, $10.5 million in Year 8, $8.5 million in Year 9, $6.5 million in Year 10, $3.5 million in Year 11, $750,000 in Year 12 and $550,000 in Years 13-17.

ORIGINAL: It took him 19 days to make his decision and he didn’t need a flashy one-hour primetime special to let the world know about it. On Monday afternoon, it was announced that Ilya Kovalchuk will remain with the team he finished out last season with and return to the New Jersey Devils on a lifetime contract. No official terms have been disclosed, but it has been widely reported that the agreement is for 17 years and will pay out a total of $102 million. This is just the latest contract intended to circumvent the current collective bargaining agreement by utilizing a greater number of years to stretch out the overall salary for the purposes of lowering the annual cap hit, while still paying the player the amount of money he wishes to accumulate during his playing tenure. Kovalchuk, who was believed to be seeking an annual salary in the $8-10 million range, will now represent a $6 million annual cap hit to New Jersey.

“This was a long arduous process that has taken frankly a little longer than I thought,” agent Jay Grossman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “But you know what, nothing is worth anything unless you work for it. I can tell you he is very happy to be with the New Jersey Devils.”

As is the case for most contracts of this nature, it is safe to assume that Kovalchuk will be paid on a frontloaded basis to accommodate the years he will actually be playing. Then the financial terms will take a sharp decline when he is expected to be retired. Since he will not be 35 years old by June 30 of the upcoming season, Kovalchuk will cease to be paid and his cap hit will be erased from the Devils’ books should he retire before the completion of the deal. Kovalchuk, now 27, will be 44 years old when the contract expires in 2027, making it unlikely he will honor it in its entirety.

With no official terms announced and the Devils planning to re-introduce Kovalchuk to their fans in a press conference tomorrow at 1 p.m., there still has yet to be firm indication into how this contract breaks down on a year-by-year basis. Two unconfirmed figures have been reported, however.