NHL commissioner Gary Bettman denied reports that the NHL rejected a second attempt by the New Jersey Devils to bring star winger Ilya Kovalchuk under contract.
Kovalchuk
Kovalchuk
The New York Post reported Wednesday that the league rejected a second proposal from the Devils and Kovalchuk's representatives.
"In order for a contract to be rejected, there would have to be a signed contract
Source ESPN:
submitted," Bettman said Wednesday after addressing the World Hockey Summit. "There has not been a signed contract submitted."
But Bettman did not dispute that there has likely been ongoing dialogue between the Devils and the league over what might be allowed under the salary cap.
"I don't know if there has been such cap advice, what the specifics of it might be, and I wouldn't comment on it anyway because that's a dialogue we regularly have with our clubs," Bettman said.
Bettman also denied the Chicago Blackhawks' recent loaning of Cristobal Huet to a Swiss club was a kind of circumvention of the collective bargaining agreement given Huet's salary comes off the Blackhawks' books and doesn't count against the salary cap. Huet's cap hit this season would have been $5.625 million.
"It's known as cap management," he said.
soooo sooooo stupid. why are WE working with Bettman!?? does any other team with any other player go back and forth with the NHL to sign a player to a contract!??!?! this is unreal that we're under the EYE like this
yes it looks like we are...Their most be a reason why the Devils are taking these steps....
The reason is that they are trying to keep his average salary low and still pay him big dollars at times. I still say that he is not a good fit for the Devils system. He is not tough and the Devils are a tough team. They don't like guys that pull up on pucks when they might get hit.