It seems very likely that the NHL will take the full five days to review and decide the validity of the new 15 year $100 million contract Kovalchuk signed on Friday afternoon. The NHL has until 5 PM Wednesday to approve or reject the contract. Both the Devils and the Fans want to know sooner, so it might happen Tuesday, but Wednesday seems more likely since the league has not given any indication of when a ruling will come down. Although reports are surfacing that the final 3 years of this 15 year deal will average around $2.6 million almost a $2 million dollar increase over the final 3 years of the 17 year pact he initially agreed to.
So What is the hold up? Maybe the league decided not to look into it at all during the weekend since it has until Wednesday. If they already have a decision in mind, they probably are waiting til Wednesday since it is no different from announcing on Tuesday than it would on Wednesday. We shall see, although the language of this contract is definitely better than the 17 year one. The length of the contract is the only thing that could force the league to reject it again, but I do not think they will, but it will be interesting to hear their explanation if they do indeed add another chapter to this saga, which is killing Gary Bettman's and the NHL's reputation. My adversary Scott Burnside of ESPN will definitely try to drill the Devils on this one.
Notes: The Rangers today signed free agent winger Tim Kennedy to a one-year-deal. They might use him at center as well. The Rangers still need to sign Marc Staal to a new contract and apparently are not close on that front. Teams could be lining up for offer sheets on Staal. Free Agent winger Lee Stempniak signed a two-year deal to stay in Phoenix. Stempniak was the steal of the trade deadline this past season.
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