Honestly this isn't a free agent thread so much as it is a place for me to celebrate the kings signing Kovalchuk. Here's a quote from the world renowned hockey publication The Wall Street Journal: "it appears the Los Angeles Kings would like to have him ply his trade on its home ice. And that Kovalchuk may have more interest in the Kings because of its status as a contender." And it turns out that the Kings tried to trade for his rights during the draft but Jersey's demands were too high.
Sure free agency doesn't start till thursday, but come on, who else is can afford to sign him, let alone willing to sign him?

Devils? The trade for Arnott kind of makes me think that they don't think they can keep him, plus jersey's future is in the past, that team is ancient with the exception of Parise.

KHL? No fucking way, I don't care how much money they offer.

A quiet team with a lot of coin that scares the crap out of me is the Blues. They needed goaltending and they got it, but more importantly they need a lot of offensive help, well honestly they need a lot of help in a lot of places, but offense seems to be the biggest need, and they have the most money to spend this offseason, but no one is really talking about them as a player.

Lets just say that this is the antithesis of NBA free agency. After Kovy, there are a lot of decent goalies, but there might be only one top line forward in Tanguay, but since his Colorado and Calgary days, he has not been top line quality. Maybe Whitney, but that's more of a one year fill-a-hole guy who is near the end. Defensively there is a little bit more. Gonchar could hit the market, there could be a lot of suitors for his offensive skill set. Mitchell could be a nice pick up, but he now has a concussion history, Volchenkov could be a huge pickup for a team, I really like this guy, him along with Martin are the premier DD in their prime this offseason, two top line shutdown guys, and could get 5-6 million easily. Daniel Hamhuis is also out there, but he's probably going to sign with Penguins to compensate for them losing Gonchar.

In terms of teams making a lot of changes through free agency is unlikely, so the next option is trades, there could be a lot more trades this offseason than in offseasons past.

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A report over the weekend made it look like the Flyers would get Nabakov from the Sharks.

well they probably have the cap space for him or any other goalie, but if just feels wrong imagining philly with a real goalie...

Hey rents, you're a Pittsburgh guy, what do you think about them potentially losing gonchar? What do you think they need to get back to the cup?

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If the Pens lost Gonchar, it would a tough loss, lost Hal Gill last year and he joins the team that beats them in the playoffs. Like to keep him, can run a power-play and a top defensemen, trying to work on a contract with him.

As to get the cup back, Fleury can be good, but when I see him, he seems to let in too many soft goals especially in the playoffs, you could say about some goalies, but with Fleury it happens in the big games. Also, need to tighten things up, in the Game 7 loss to the Canadiens, besides the first Montreal goal that was soft, 1 was a shorthanded goal, and the other was on a powerplay because of too many men on the ice. That's 3 goals right there and that's how many they lost by.

As long as Syd and Malkin are there, not much to get back, just tighten some things up, Fleury play a little better, and you can be back there next year in the Finals.

If the Kings sign Kovalchuk, that 3rd jersey is mine. All mine.

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That's pretty interesting Reents, I never would have thought of fleury being a problem...

I just looked at the numbers, and damn, both malkin and crosby have a cap hit of about 9 million dollars and stall is about a 4 million hit, you have about 22 million of your cap space locked up in centers add fluery's 5 million cap hit, and you have 27 million committed up the middle of you team... 4 players of your team accounts for half of your fucking cap space wow... I thought that hawks had bad cap management...

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That's the thing with the NHL salary cap though. Other than Fleury, where is the bad "cap management" on the Pens part? If the Pens don;t pay those guys that $$$, somebody else will. They have to overpay those guys to keep them...........all the while building the new arena. You can't let a Malkin, or God, go to another team while hitting up the city/state for new arena $$$.

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Fleury not a problem, it's just like he doesn't focus all the time, he lets in goals that look like they should be stopped and when he is focused he's at the top of his game, just look at Game 6 and 7 of Stanley Cup last year.

Like Spanky put, with a new arena, you need people to want to come watch your team and that's why you have to give players more than you want, but when you sell the arena it's worth it.

no, I disagree, a better gm would have traded malkin. you have the face of the NHL, you don't need anything more for a new arena, you can't keep both. I understand that they play on the same line, but in reality, you can get so much value for malkin. the way that it stands, it's such a shallow team that they were lucky to win a cup. Their defense is crap, and they don't even have a right winger... stall is a really good second center, you can get wingers who will produce, especially paired with crosby for less than 9 million, for that money you can get 2 first line wingers... it's just too much money for malkin, trade him...

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I see your thinking Crosscheck, but there is some people that think that Malkin may be better than Crosby, but Malkin may also take some of the pressure off Crosby too. There is probably some thinking that with Malkin and Crosby can be like Jagr and Lemieux.

I don't know how you can say it was a shallow team that won the Cup, they had to win a Game 7 in Washington and Detroit.

I get what crosscheck is saying too, but when the contracts were signed, some thought Malkin was better than Sid. Many thought that actually. The $4 mil hit for Stall is not bad at all actually.

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Ok, maybe not a shallow team, but it wasn't as deep as stanley cup teams usually are. A lot of the burden was placed on fluery that playoffs and he was fucking great.

I think Malkin might be as great as crosby, and he's definitly a better goal scorer. But having that much money dedicated to two players in the salary cap age seems like such a waste to me.

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team Meatpants

I get what you're saying, but say they get rid of one of those two guys with the $9 million hit. Divide that up into three players at around $3 million each. Look at all of the crappy players making $3 million around the league. 3 of those guys combined are not gonna replace either one of those guys.

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what if you divide it up by two? 4.5 per player could get you a lot in this league. A top four defensemen, maybe even a shutdown defensement, and an aging first line forward. Maybe all you get for Malkin is prospects, that's ok, that cap space could turn into so much for your team. if you're a great gm, you should be able to to turn 9 milllion into something more than what you got for malkin alone...

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wow, one of the flying Kostitsyn brothers (the younger one) has been traded to Nashville for Dustin Boyd and the rights to Dan Ellis... So Nashville has a potential offensive star now well if he develops and actually shows up

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I fucking love twitter, not for personal attention, but damn the info comes out quick...

Significant moves thus far:
-Gonchar signed with The Senators out of the gate
-Marty Biron to rangers Because that's what the Rangers needed?
-Tanguay back to where he had his most success, the Flames
-Armstrong to the leafs, (that's kind of a big deal, maybe? probably not...)

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Well, the Canucks just got better defensively...

-Hamhuis to Vancouver

kings are making me nervous, missed out on Martin, and haven't made one move yet...

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"Kings are about to announce something big"


"possible Big Trade"

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This...

...no matter what your interests are, if you follow the right people on twitter, you will be the first to know when shit happens...

possible Kaberle trade in the works... I could live with that...

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team Meatpants

Kovy's decision later today, heard that a KHL teamoffered him 14 million a year I don't know who the favorite is anymore. Blues are not interested, New Jersey Can afford him at a discounted price, but the have a shitload of LW's already, LA can afford whatever he's asking, but that would be fucking stupid considering they have to lock up doughty and Johnson and a shitload of other young talent in a few years. If they can get him for 8-9 million they should do it, but even that is questionable... if any player deserves the max it's him, but he wants to win, so we will see how badly. If he wants 11 million, he can go to the islanders.

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He's going back to the devils.

Well this has been a shitty free agency period thus far for the kings, they got fucking no one.

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I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere. Are the Kings still in the hunt now that the deal has been kaboshed?

NHL REJECTS KOVALCHUK CONTRACT FOR SALARY CAP CIRCUMVENTION
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=328025
The NHL has rejected Ilya Kovalchuk's 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils on the grounds that it circumvents the NHL's salary cap.

The announcement was made just hours after a smiling Kovalchuk had been introduced by the Devils at a press conference.

Kovalchuk was slated to earn $95 million over the first 10 years of the deal and then just $7 million over the last seven seasons. That would translate to an annual cap hit of $6 million per year.

TSN Insider Darren Dreger explains that the deal was rejected due to the fact that the NHL does not believe that either Kovalchuk nor the Devils expected the 2004 Rocket Richard trophy winner would be playing near end of the contract and that it is a case of artificially lowering the annual average value of the contract. The Devils must now either file the contract once again or the Players' Association can file a grievance.

Should the NHLPA decide to file a grievance, the contract would remain dead until an arbitrator determines otherwise.

National Hockey League Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly issued the following statement on Wednesday morning:

"The contract has been rejected by the League as a circumvention of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Under the CBA, the contract rejection triggers a number of possible next steps that may be elected by any or each of the NHLPA, the Player and/or the Club. In the interim, the player is not entitled to play under the contract, nor is he entitled to any of the rights and benefits that are provided for thereunder. The League will have no further comment on this matter pending further developments."

While the NHL has investigated front loaded contracts in the past, most notably Chris Pronger's $34.9 million contract spread over seven years and the deal that Marian Hossa signed with the Chicago Blackhawks for $62.8 million over 12 years, all were eventually allowed as it proved too difficult to prove that they were not negotiated in good faith.

The current collective bargaining agreement states that a player who signs a contract before the age of 35 can retire and have his contract come off a team's salary cap; however, teams must negotiate the contract in question in a good faith effort to have the player remain in the league for the duration of the contract.

The current CBA explains circumvention as the following in section 26.3:

(a) No Club or Club Actor, directly or indirectly, may: (i) enter into any agreements, promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or understandings of any kind, whether express, implied, oral or written, including without limitation, any SPC, Qualifying Offer, Offer Sheet or other transaction, or (ii) take or fail to take any action whatsoever, if either (i) or (ii) is intended to or has the effect of defeating or Circumventing the provisions of this Agreement or the intention of the parties as reflected by the provisions of this Agreement, including without limitation, provisions with respect to the financial and other reporting obligations of the Clubs and the League, Team Payroll Range, Player Compensation Cost Redistribution System, the Entry Level System and/or Free Agency.

Should the deal have been approved, the 17-year pact would have been the longest contract in NHL history, topping the 15-year deal that the New York Islanders handed goaltender Rick DiPietro and the 13-year offer agreed to by two-time Hart Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The contract was to include a no-movement clause for the first seven seasons and a no-trade clause for the last nine.

The 27-year-old rejected a $101 million, 12-year extension from the Atlanta Thrashers before being dealt to the Devils in February. He also reportedly rejected offers from the Los Angeles Kings and SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.

Kovalchuk had 41 goals and 44 assists last season, including 10 goals and 17 assists with the Devils.

Yeah I didn't want to post anything because I didn't want to talk to myself, plus I was kind of wasted last night when I first heard the wonderful news.

It's shitty of the NHL to do this IMO, I guess they had to make a stand, but they should have done it with the first few long-term deals, and not after the 6th or 7th one. The fact that you can have a great player like Hossa and Kovy only have cap hits of 5-6 million really goes against the purpose of having a cap. But by doing this now the NHL looks hypocritical; 15 years is ok, but 17 years is where they draw the line? They should have put the kibosh on it from the start, they created this problem for themselves.

Plus, this is probably a good thing for the Devils. The already have some good LW'ers on their roster, and one of them in Parise is going to be better than Kovy in a few years. This signing would have put the Devils at risk of being able to resign him.

There is an NHL God, and he hates the Devils


If the Kings can get him under contract for a 7-8 million hit, they would be fools to not do so, and they have enough money coming off the books within the next few years where they can afford him, and afford to keep most of that young talent. The NHL gave them another chance< conspiracy >, and they have to make something happen this time, especially with losing out on the Gagne trade, and also losing out on Martin when Pittsburgh out bid them.

God Save the Kings!

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There are reports that the devils wont appeal the decision


Edit: it turns out that they actually can't appeal, so that would explain that

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Crosscheck, if Kovalchuck doesn't go to the Devils, where do you think he ends up, still the Devils or maybe your Kings.

I don't know, I'm guessing that he will end up with the devils, but it will have to be for about a 7.5 cap hit. I still think the kings have the space for him, but they seem too hesitant to sign him for whatever reason... at this point, it has to be the devils...

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Well if it makes you feel any better, it's not like he's going to play well...

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I put this is the Turco/Niemi thread, but Wis for 3.25m is hilarious.

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Team Cutler.

dude broke a guys face, that's gotta be a million right there. Factor in that you have to pllay in Nassau for half of your games, that's another million. The rest is what you would normally pay for his skills, about a million, and there you go. Makes perfect sense...

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