The Newark Star-Ledger has the numbers on Ilya Kovalchuk's 17-year, $102-million contract and you should pick an adjective: Eye-popping, stunning, absurd, insane. All of the above. Here's the rundown:
2010-11 and 2011-12: $6 million each
2012-13 though 2016-17: $11.5 million each
2017-18: $10.5 million
2018-19: $8.5 million
2019-20: $6.5 million
2020-21: $3.5 million
2021-22: $750,000
2022-23: $550,000
2023-24: $550,000
2024-25: $550,000
2025-26: $550,000
2026-27:$550,000
What a joke. And no bright lights in the NHL office or among ownership figured teams will pull this charade? Why isn't the salary cap hit (just $6 million in this case) based on actual annual salary and not the average over the length of the deal? And why isn't there a limit on the number of years?
Glad to see we needed a lockout for a full year to get these contracts under control.
Update: For more on the deal, read Bucky Gleason's column in today's paper.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
tagged
NHL free agency
