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“This decision was something I have thought about for a long time going back to the lockout and spending the year in Russia. Though I decided to return this past season, Lou was aware of my desire to go back home and have my family there with me. The most difficult thing for me is to leave the New Jersey Devils, a great organization that I have a lot of respect for, and our fans that have been great to me.”

Devils are broke and they're going to be in the shitter for a long time after this. They're going to get moved.
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lol perhaps no clarkson?

So they're forefitting most likely a top 5 pick.. so they can't even tank. They lose Parise last season for nothing, now they lose Ilya and Clarkson for nothing. They signed Clowe for a ridiculous price.. and they've been rumored to be almost in bankruptcy.

At least they have Henrique and Larsson... Schnoo is fucked.... or at least he's gonna have to stand on his head for a couple seasons before they're relevant again :lol
Lou said they're looking to move a defenseman for a younger player up front now..

Another greedy Russian player. The only Russian players that I liked were Bure and Larionov.

One of the Russian star players that I remember who was a decent fighter. Although he was fighting Schenn, an average fighter, it's a pretty good knockout punch:

So who has Kovy in the RS Keepers pool?

Y! SPORTS

If this is true, $77 million is nothing when you're making $20 million tax free per season.

BTW...there's a live prospect camp scrimmage today. If you're downtown, it's free entry. If not, watch on youtube. Can't find the link yet. Scrimmage starts at 3:30

Live stream of the scrimmage should be up here:

Vancouver Canucks - YouTube

3:30PM

Here's the direct link to stream:

More like he's sick and tired of playing in New Jersey and being surrounded by dipshit Americans.

This year's WJC is gonna be good with
Shinkaruk, Horvat, Gaunce and Subban damnnnnnnnn

Because he only played 1 year of his front loaded contract and it was pro-rated to boot. New Jersey only 'saved' 3M during this shortened season, and those savings are spread out over the remaining 12 years of the contract. The Canucks having been saving caphit for a few years now, so all those savings come back and get applied to however long is left on the contract when the player retires; Lu's recapture penalty can't actually be calculated until you know when he will retire.

Schneider better be putting in a few more goals than Marty did to help out the offense, haha. It'd be kind of funny if Devils decide to trade Schneider to the Oilers for some scoring help now

lmao... oh god gillis would just love it!

Article from Carolina blogger Matt Karash: (Summary: Protect the integrity of NHL contracts. Put a penalty on players who decide to walk away from contracts).

If Kovalchuk wants to leave, there is really no way to make him stay and play. And with a string for years at $11M/year in actual salary and a $6M cap hit until 2080 (only slight exaggeration), I think you can make a reasonable case that New Jersey just managed themselves a buyout similar to Lecavalier without actually having to shell out the money.

But if, as seems to be the case, the NHL and New Jersey Devils just let a player under contract walk away to play in another league without any ramifications, it sets a horrible precedent for the league going forward. If this is interpreted to be the norm for handling this situation, it basically makes each and every year of an NHL contract a player option for the NHL that he can evaluate versus overseas (primarily KHL) options. The NHL contract ceases being a contractual commitment that a player must live up to.

The biggest fallout of this situation if it continues on the path that it is on is that it will significantly cost NHL players from Russia and to some degree Europe in the long run. GMs will need to put an additional risk factor into the equation when signing contracts.

At first glance, one might say that this risk has always existed. But there is a key difference with this situation. Up until now, the risk has almost exclusively been for players NOT under contract. As such, it is a long-term risk with young players because you know you will need to re-sign them multiple times. It is also a lesser risk with veterans though once they reach UFA age each new contract point already sees competition with 30 other NHL teams so adding i the KHL is not really a big deal. The key difference here is that this a player under contract which is significantly. Prior to now the general thinking that once a player was under contract, he would fulfill it and that you would not have to worry to much about that until that contract was up and it was time renegotiate.

I think the NHL needs to consider and react to this situation not as a 1-off situation involving only Ilya Kovalchuk but rather think of what its action means for the integrity of all contracts going forward. At a minimum, New Jersey, prodded by the league if necessary, should be holding Kovalchuk to the fire and making him pay something (a percent of his KHL contract?) to buy out his NHL contract. This at least sets the precedent that a player cannot just walk away without some kind of ramifications/penalty.

you go buddy.. bold the whole article

:rolleyes:

1 of dem GOAT and highest scoring goaltender...inb4 he mentors Schnoo and he scores 5 before he retires
He could teach Clowe a thing or two as well...

"This decision was something I have thought about for a long time going back to the lockout and spending the year in Russia," Kovalchuk said in a statement released by the team. "Though I decided to return this past season, [general manager] Lou [Lamoriello] was aware of my desire to go back home and have my family there with me. The most difficult thing for me is to leave the New Jersey Devils, a great organization that I have a lot of respect for, and our fans that have been great to me."

Lamoriello said Kovalchuk, 30, signed his voluntary retirement papers, and the team has voided the remaining 12 years of the contract with the player. The voiding of the remainder of the deal opens the door for Kovalchuk to play in the Kontinental Hockey League this season.

lol you guys see Eriksson's interview? guy looks/sounds like a real awkward brah

Vancouver Canucks

He sounds/looks like Bryzgalov :lol

I firmly believe Luongo WILL play this season.

Also the timing on Kovalchuk's retirement is horrible, now there are no remaining impact free agents left to sign with his freed up cap...

Kovy, like just about all Russians, isn't a team player. What a dick move. I don't care if your family is in Russia. Remember the bullshit that went on to sign this contract? How many teams he turned down because they didn't offer him a long enough term? Fuck off.

KHL teams are all mafia owned... I wonder if one of them kidnapped his daughter and blackmailed him or something :lawl:

I wonder what you would sound like to Swedish people in your first interview... :considered: