Couple Kovy thoughts
Everyone who breathes is weighing in on the NHL’s decision to void Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year deal with New Jersey.
Here are two Bruins-related thoughts on the matter from me.
•Those conspiracy theorists that are convinced the NHL is always out to get the Bruins should be quieted a bit by the league’s decision to clamp down on these salary cap-evading “lifetime contracts” now rather than last December. Obviously Marc Savard’s contract was just another in a long list of deals signed by a player that had no chance of completing the contract (Miikka Kiprusoff, Marian Hossa and others had already set the standard). But the league could’ve easily looked at the fact that Savard, at 38 and 39 years old, is scheduled to make just $525,000 (according to CapGeek.com) in the last two years of his deal and called Boston’s bluff. The only thing that would keep a guy playing at that age for that money would be about three more marriages and divorces.
We can debate all day whether the NHL is right to suddenly close up that CBA loophole. However, this incident at least proves the league isn’t just out to get the Bruins.
•Most experts seem to think this situation will be resolved by the Devils and Kovalchuk’s camp reworking the deal. It’ll be worth watching how they go about doing that. After July 1, it seemed like the Bruins’ best bet to re-sign Zdeno Chara, and to a lesser extent Patrice Bergeron, was a Kovalchuk-like front-loaded deal that would fit into the team’s cap structure. Now the Bruins and the agents for the club’s top two 2011 unrestricted free agents know the league isn’t afraid to a void a deal it thinks insults the integrity of the CBA.
This doesn’t make it impossible to get those important extensions done, it just makes it a little tougher, especially in light of the deals Chiarelli has granted several supporting players in advance of extensions for his two foundation players.
I have read your response and stand by my statement.
He is a good D-man. He is not worth 7.5 mil.
I will welcome him back if it is for less. 6 tops.
Assuming I’m reading the rules right, Chara’s next contract will be an over-35 contract, and therefore, it couldn’t be frontloaded for additional cap relief. The Bruins would remain liable for the cap hit after retirement. So, there’s no point in giving him an 8 year deal when they only expect him to play 5 (or whatever).
4 years, $24M for Chara, give or take 10% either way, is probably what he should get.
Definitely. But that the NHL decided to let it get as far as the Kovy deal goes, shows they were willing to let other teams have a lot of rope in this matter.
I strongly disagree about Chara. There are more offensively talented defense men than Chara, but he definitely has a streak in him and shows it with decent numbers every season (this one may be an exception). He is also a shut down d-man who can stop superstars. I recall many penguins games where Malkin got a good hit or two from Chara and Backed off freeing Chara to contain Crosby. He is a great d-man and plays with a lot of heart. I think it would be a very poor decision to let him go, and he may even get an increase in pay, but I am sure that we will see him on a long term deal after this Kovy business is sorted out. I would love to have bergeron on the team for life, but what will you do with a team that has 4 centers that can play on the top two lines? We will see how they deal with this, but someone will go or otherwise be exiled to wing. We will see, but I say Chara signs a long term extension that the NHL will not attack.
Chara is not an important extension. 7.5 mil (12% of total team cap) can be spent much more wisely then on a single player.
Is he a top D man, yes, is he worth 7.5 mil a year? HELL NO!
If someone is willing to pay him that, have fun playing there. Not many of the faithful will raise an alarm.
Bergeron should be extended but the cap hit needs to go down. I think Savard should be the ceiling. Nothing more then 4 million per year.
As long as they dont “insult” the CBA as the Devils did, they still should be able to do a deal like Savard’s, just for a smaller total.
I hope Bergeron is a Bruin for life, like Savard.
Maybe it’s just me, but surely there’s a difference between two years at $525K played by a player at age 38 to 39 than five years at $550K from age 40 to 44?
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