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NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement

Frontload Threat: Smokescreen for Definition

by on August 11, 2010- 308 Comments

*Warning:  More analysis and opinion concerning the Kovalchuk decision. For those who want to talk hockey, as opposed to the now perpetual indiscretions of the league office etc. Alex has a post beneath.

When Richard Bloch decided to rule in the favour of the NHL in the case of Ilya Kovalchuk and the ridiculous contract, he set in place a new precedent that the league hope will stem the flow of cap-circumventing front loaded contracts. In lieu of a concrete definition, the cover-all bases nature of Bloch’s ruling was expected to draw a line under the types of long, frontloaded contracts the NHL saw as detrimental to the spirit of equality the CBA and its salary cap was supposed to theoretically harbour.

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League Chasing Front-Loaders

by on August 10, 2010- 655 Comments

Now that the NHL has won the arbitration award based on "salary cap circumvention" with the Kovalchuk situation, they are ready to tackle the rest of the league. A year (and perhaps in a few occasions more than a year) ago, specific contracts were approved by the league and now the league has decided to reevaluate those contracts to determine if they too circumvent the salary cap.

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NHL Wins, Kovalchuk a Free Agent

by on August 9, 2010- 398 Comments

The NHLPA filed a grievance against the NHL for rejecting Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils' mammoth 17 year contract. After an arbitration hearing for both sides, today the ruling was in favor of the NHL, thus making Ilya Kovalchuk a free agent.

Excerpt from Michael Stephens Added
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The NHLPA Prepare for Battle

by on July 24, 2010- 436 Comments

If leaked reports are to be believed the NHLPA is preparing to file a grievance pertaining to the NHL’s rejection of the unprecedented 17 year, $102 million contract filed last week by the New Jersey Devils for Russian forward Ilya Kovalchuk. The report suggests that even if the Devils and Kovalchuk can agree on a restructured deal, the NHLPA may still decide to file a grievance in a preventative effort for future contracts.

The latter part is particularly significant for those who have been viewing the leagues rejection of the initial contract as an act of political posturing in the face of the PA’s on-going power struggle and an attempt at drawing a line in the sand.

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A Quick Note On The Kovalchuk Contract Rejection

by on July 20, 2010- 25 Comments

In their report, TSN mentions section 26.3 of the CBA which alludes to the NHL’s right to reject a deal upon suspicion of circumvention. There's [more…]