Projected Devils Line-up

Assuming Rolston is the one moved, here is the projected Devils line-up:

Forwards:


Left Wing | Center | Right Wing
Zach Parise | Travis Zajac | Jamie Langenbrunner
Ilya Kovalchuk | Jason Arnott | Patrik Elias
Mattias Tedenby | Jacob Josefson | David Clarkson
Rod Pelley | Adam Henrique | Dainius Zubrus
Extras: Vladimir Zharkov, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-LeBlond

Defense:

Andy Greene | Anton Volchenkov
Bryce Salvador | Henrik Tallinder
Colin White | Matthew Corrente
Extras: Anssi Salmela, Mark Fraser

Projected Mid-Season Call Ups from minors:

Alexander Vasyunov
Tyler Eckford
Alexander Urbom
Patrick Davis
Nick Palmieri
Matt Taormina
Tim Sestito

Whats next for Devils?

Now that the saga is over, here is some ideas to throw around on who to trade or send to minors:

Brian Rolston

Teams that could have interest in taking on his $5.025 million dollar cap hit:

-Maple Leafs, Islanders, Wild, Panthers, Canadiens, Avalanche or send him to minors.

Bryce Salvador

Possible Teams: Blues, Stars, Flames, Oilers

Patrik Elias

Possible Teams: Oilers, Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Avalanche

Jamie Langenbrunner

Possible Teams: Stars, Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Wild

Colin White

Possible Teams: Canadiens, Capitals, Stars, Maple Leafs, Flames

Travis Zajac

Possible Teams: Flames, Oilers, Canucks

Winners and Losers in Kovalchuk Saga

Now that one of the most bizarre off-seasons is drawing to a close with training camps set to open in a couple of weeks, I think its time we take a look at the winners and losers in this waste of a time saga.

Winners:

The New Jersey Devils

-The Devils are usually not known as an aggressive team in the summer when it comes to pursuing big name talent, but Lou Lamoriello decided to change the dynamic of the team and lock up a player of Kovy's caliber. The Devils themselves have been known a s a team that is build through youth and development. He also re-acquired Jason Arnott, signed Anton Volchenkov and Henrik Tallinder and added Johan Hedberg as a backup to Marty Brodeur.

Lou Lamoriello

-His patience throughout the process definitely showed why he is still one of the best General Managers not just in Hockey, but in all of sports.

The NHL

-They get to keep one of the most exciting players in hockey.

Devils Owner Jeffrey Vanderbeek

-Ilya Kovalchuk has ushered in a new era for the owner, who knows he has to do a better job in marketing the Devils and hockey in the state of New Jersey.

Devils Fans

-They now get to buy tickets and his jersey. Plus attendance will increase this year as coach John MacLean said he will think more offensively this year and try to play more of an up tempo style.

Losers:

Gary Bettman and Bill Daly

-The league commissioner is already very unpopular with fans for the canceled 2004-2005 season. And this saga definitely adds to his reputation and puts a red flag on him. Bill Daly has also kind of ruined his reputation in all of this. Bettman is booed by fans when he steps up to the podium at the Entry Draft in June, so imagine what will happen this year especially when he visits the Prudential Center.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)

-Ever since August 9th, the day arbitrator Richard Bloch made his ruling, the KHL had every opportunity and ammunition to try to get Kovy to sign in Russia. They even offered him the similar 17 year deal the NHL rejected and let him choose his team, but he stayed committed to the NHL and the New Jersey Devils. Also a loser in the KHL is the club SKA St. Petersburg, the club that Kovalchuk would have probably chosen to play for had he decided to sign in the KHL.

LA Kings

-They are not really a loser, but they flew Ilya and his family to LA, and yet still failed to sign him.

Front-Loaded Contracts

-Teams will now have to be very cautious in the number of years they sign a player to, so looks like you will not see any long-term deals for more than 7 or 8 years from now. Otherwise more contracts will come under Investigation.

Conclusion: All I have to say is Thank God this saga is finally over and Devils Fans can enjoy an exciting brand of hockey at "The Rock." Now it will be very interesting to see what the Devils do to clear the salary cap space to accommodate Ilya Kovalchuk. On a side note, the NHL will stop its investigation into the Hossa, Savard, Luongo and Pronger contracts with their teams.

Devils must now find way to accommodate Kovalchuk

As I mentioned in the last post, the Devils are now charged with a task to make some trades in order to clear up cap space. They must be under the cap once training camp starts on September 17th, so that gives them 2 weeks. The CBA states that a team can go 10% over the salary cap during the offseason, but must be at the ceiling or under before the season starts. According to multiple sources Devils forward Brian Rolston has not been approached by the team to waive his no-trade clause, but that means absolutely nothing.

The Devils are not likely to get anything done over labor day weekend, but I'm pretty sure Lou Lamoriello was discussing trades while the NHL was mulling over the Kovalchuk offer. The Leafs and Islanders both have interest in Rolston or Zubrus or maybe both, but you never know what kind of deal Lou Lamoriello can pull out of the hat as no one expected him to trade for Ilya Kovalchuk back in February. So we will see what happens now.

Devils Fans get back to elation (Kovalchuk Saga over)

Its probably been the toughest few months for Devils fans since the time they needed to recover from the Game 7 loss against Carolina in 2009. Now Devils fans can breathe easily as the NHL and NHLPA agreed to amend the CBA which will allow allow different structure patterns for long-term contracts which go beyond age 35 but will place emphasis passed age 40. Under the new agreement the Kovalchuk 15 year $100 million dollar deal will get approved, but the cap hit is yet to be fully released. Also this agreement exempts the contracts of Marian Hossa with Chicago, Marc Savard of Boston and Roberto Luongo of Vancouver. The PA gave pre-authorization to approve this deal with the NHL and no vote will be needed. Now the Devils have to figure out a way to get under the salary cap to accomodate Kovalchuk. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello continues to preach patience and it shows you his professionalism in this. It will be tough for the Devils to get under the salary cap, but its likely that will be the next order of business after labor day weekend for Lou Lamoriello. They need to move quickly since training camp starts on September 17th. Players who might bet moved are:

Brian Rolston
Patrik Elias (unlikely)
Bryce Salvador
Colin White
Rod Pelley
Tyler Eckford
Dainius Zubrus
Jamie Langenbrunner (unlikely)

Cup Winning Goalie Niemi signs with San Jose Sharks

Well I guess right now the saying is, If you can beat them, join them. In May Antti Niemi was on a Blackhawks team that swept the top seeded San Jose Sharks out of the playoffs. However, there is a price to pay once you win the Stanley Cup, your team will undergo changes in order to clear cap space. The Blackhawks after winning the cup were stuck is a salary cap mess, thus being forced to part with a quarter of their roster. They started in June by trading fan favorite Dustin Byfuglien along with three others to the Atlanta Thrashers and Andrew Ladd joined him there on July 1st. Kris Versteeg ended up in Toronto, Adam Burish in Dallas, John Madden in Minnesota and now Antti Niemi becomes another cap casualty.

Niemi was awarded a one year deal worth almost $2.5 million by an arbitrator, but the Hawks turned it down and signed veteran Marty Turco to a one year deal worth almost $1.5 million making Niemi an Unrestricted Free Agent. Now Niemi will make Sharks fans very happy as he has signed a one year $2 million dollar deal with the team. He will enjoy the Hawks-Sharks rivalry from the other side. He will also join fellow Finn Antero Nittymaki and will open up the season in Stockholm against the Columbus Blue Jackets. This was a risky move by the Blackhawks, but if you win the Stanley Cup, there will always be changes and they might be major changes, since there is a business aspect in the NHL, but most of you already knew that. But Niemi has one thing Evgeni Nabokov did not, which is a Stanley Cup ring and that might be enough to propel a desperate San Jose team to their destiny, since their window is starting to close. But know one thing Thornton and Heatley will be keys to the Sharks season.

Notes: Tomorrow is the 2nd deadline for the Kovalchuk verdict at 5 PM ET, unless the NHL and NHLPA decide to extend it again with Wednesday after labor day being the likely day. If the NHL is going to make a decision, it will likely be sometime in the final hour and from all indications no 2nd extension is expected like most analysts predict.

When will Kovalchuk Saga finally End?

Yesterday could have been the end of the Ilya Kovalchuk saga, but instead the league's indecisiveness forced an extension of the process for another two days. Now the deadline is Friday at 5 PM. However, many analysts believe the NHL will ask for another extension possibly until Tuesday after Labor Day to render its decision. One way or another both the NHL and NHLPA have done damage to their respective reputations in this saga. The person that has imposed the most damage to himself is obviously Gary Bettman. It is very likely that if the NHL asks for another extension, Kovalchuk will part ways with the Devils at least for this season and sign in the KHL. Right now we have to sit and wait, but in my opinion there has to be a change in the NHL hierarchy if this process drags on longer. Sure this is a serious matter for the NHL and they are being fiscally responsible, but if they want to be fiscally responsible, why did they approve DiPietro's 15 year deal with the Islanders, Lecavalier's 11 year deal with the Lightning, Hossa's 12 year with the Hawks and other contracts. The league has to approve Kovalchuk's and look to the next CBA talks to address this matter. This saga better end tomorrow in what has been the most bizarre offseason in NHL history.

Kovalchuk Saga puts a Red Flag on Gary Bettman

During the NHL Lockout in 2004-2005, I was definitely all for a salary cap in the NHL because some contracts were simply out of control like the Bobby Holik 5 year $45 million dollar one with the NY Rangers. The NHL won its fight against the PA thus instituting a hard but flexible salary cap meaning that if league revenues go up, the cap would go up. However, the one thing NHL failed to address was term limits on contracts, so technically the Devils did nothing wrong even during the 17 year deal, but the NHL was maybe trying to send a strong and stiff message that these deals are unacceptable. You can start with Rick DiPietro's 15 year $67.5 million dollar deal with the Islanders and he has been hurt for most of the contract. His contract was maybe the first front loaded deal in the NHL and it definitely began the issue of term limits.

One thing for sure, the Ilya Kovalchuk saga has definitely hurt Commissioner Gary Bettman even if they approve the 15 year deal. Amongst the board of governors he might be viewed as a hero, but amongst the general fan and public, he is simply an adversary. He gets booed every single year at the draft and when he awards the Conn Smyth trophy and Stanley Cup. He will definitely face a lot of adversity and thus might not be allowed inside the Pridential Center or "The Rock" for a very long time unless the Devils win the Stanley Cup and he will be heavily booed as well. But Gary Bettman know one thing, the Commissioner's job is not a popularity contest and that the entire NHL supports his job. But still this saga raises more questions than answers regardless of what the final rendering of the verdict by Friday at 5 PM would be. The fact that the deadline has been extended by both parties seems to be positive news, that they could resolve this saga together and that Kovalchuk will be a Devil. Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello is confident everything will work out in his favor.

There definitely needs to be a clause in the next CBA for term limits because it will make players and agents and GM's more accountable for their handling of the salary cap.

Kovalchuk saga continues until Friday

The Saga that has not ended, refuses to end again. The NHL and NHLPA agreed to extend the deadline until Friday at 5 PM for the Kovalchuk verdict to be reached. This probably means the NHL has not reached a decision. It is definitely bull crap considering the sides had to amend the CBA for one players. If the NHL had no decision, then the contract should have been registered by default. Judging by the way this saga is going, it seems that the NHL is willing to drag this saga into training camps.

Kovalchuk day is here again

Will the Ilya Kovalchuk saga finally end today? So far only the NHL knows the answer whether to accept or reject the latest contract that was submitted by the Devils. The saga has dragged on for more than two months since July 1st, when Kovalchuk became an unrestricted free agent. He was the #1 most coveted free agent to be this summer and spurned a lucrative offer from the Los Angeles Kings to stay with the Devils that is until the NHL rejected the 17 year deal he signed with the team. Now comes the climax of this soap opera. By 5 PM today we should know if we have closure in this saga in which the NHL took the full five days to complete a review of the current submitted deal by the Devils, a 15 year $100 million dollar one. One GM believe the deal will be rejected again, but he has no input on the NHL decision. This contract seems to address the flaws the initial 17 year deal had, but the fact that it is taking so long for the NHL to review could be an indication that the league is thinking of reasons to reject this one. However, many sources believe it will be reluctantly accepted. We shall see come 5 pm what the outcome will be, but today could be the end to one of the most bizarre offseasons in NHL history especially for the Devils since they really never sgined a player of Kovalchuk's caliber, but lost him because of the league's stance on front-loaded contracts. So, lets all hope this deal gets approved and that Gary Bettman can save his reputation.