Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract was rejected by the NHL late last night because it “circumvented the league’s salary cap.”
Here are a pair of similar contracts that were signed last season. The NHL investigated each contract, before eventually approving both. The league cited that it could not prove that the contracts were not agreed to upon in good faith.
Note: Figures courtesy nhlnumbers.com
Marian Hossa (Blackhawks): 12-years, $53 million
Contract Breakdown: Years 1-7, $7.9 million; Year 8, $4 million; Years 9-10, $1 million; Years 11-12, $750,000
Annual Cap Hit: $5.275 million
Age When Contract Ends: 42
* * *
Chris Pronger (Flyers): 7-years, $34.45 million
Contract Breakdown: Years 1-2, $7.6 million; Year 3, $7.2 million; Year 4, $7 million; Year 5, $4 million; Years 6-7, $525,00
Annual Cap Hit: $4.92 million
Age When Contract Ends: 42
* * *
Roberto Luongo (Canucks): 12-years, $64 million
Contract Breakdown: Year 1 (2010-11), $10 million; Years 2-8, $6.7 million; Year 9, $3.3 million; Year 10, $1.6 million; Years 11-12: $1 million
Annual Cap Hit: $5.33 million
Age When Contract Ends: 43
* * *
Pronger's deal did not kick in until he was 35, which imposes the "35-and Older Clause" of the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement.
"When a player age 35 or older signs a multi-year contract, his average salary is counted against the team's salary cap during every year of the contract, even if the player retires before the contract is up."
What happens if the flyers put Pronger in the minors before the last 3 years and he retires then? Will his cap hit still be there?
I still don't see how Pronger's contract is similar to the others. Yes, it's frontloaded as far as actual compensation goes, but the cap hit remains whether he retires or not, since it's a 35 contract. That's a big deal. In the other cases, if the player retires, he still gets his money and the team gets their cap space back. I think that's the key difference.
None of those are as bad as the one of Kovalchuk, wich is why it did not pass.
uhhh .. im pretty sure that if a player retires they dont get their money regardless of contract type... also ... the 35 contracts .. if they retire their cap hit still applies ???