isn't there like a crippling cap hit if you have a player with that kind of contract retire, or is that just for contracts signed after the new CBA? EDIT nevermind, looked it up. Penalty isn't bad at all. It's contracts like Richard's where the money is significantly front-loaded where you get in trouble with retirement.
LMAO! Now Lou who has been a moron for years and just got lucky 2 years ago, will end up giving up a lottery draft pick this year. Stupid bastard.
If this was something they had discussed for a while that makes his latest moves even more idiotic. So you lose Parise, Clarkson and Kovalchuk and replace them with Clowe and Ryder. Certainly aren't a playoff team and messed up your draft picks.
I don't think there is a great cap hit since he was not over 35 (I believe that's the age) when he signed the long term deal. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
The guy sounded like was upfront with management....must be very hard playing in another country away from you loved ones. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
yup. And Schneider will be 35 by the time they're competitive again. That team is going to be awful for a while.
If Lou had a brain which I'm convinced he doesn't and lost sometime ago, he would trade Schneider, Elias and Zajac for as much youth and picks as he could get and commit to a total rebuild. Same with fat boy Brodeur. Dump him also.
Agree with Dump in that he should do a total rebuild. I'd go even further and say if Lou knew this was going to happen he should have never traded for Schneider, kept the top 10 pick and start the rebuild then. What a mess that team is, lol
"The Devils must forfeit their 2014 first-round pick as punishment for the circumvention after they opted to keep their selections in 2012 and 2013. They will also be charged $250,000 against the salary cap through 2024-25 as a result of Kovalchuk's retirement. The rest of the nearly $6.7-million hit will come off New Jersey's cap." http://www.thehockeynews.com/articl...alchuk-retires-from-NHL-after-11-seasons.html
It's a huge blow to the Devils. This would be similar to Malkin walking away from the Pens. It's hard having one of the top players in the league on your team one day and have him walk away to the KHL the next. He was by far their best player and top scorer.
You have to think that Kovi is a total dick to have not done this much sooner so that the Devils could have played free agency differently. If I were a Devils fan, I'd be most pissed about the timimg. wanting to go home is one thing, but then you should retire as soon as the season is over so that you at least give the team a chance to plan for it.....
Vro, in general terms i agree with you, but if you read the link i posted from the Devils, Lou says "After many conversations with Ilya over the past year on his desire to retire from the National Hockey League...." so in my opinion this is something the Devils knew could very well happen and were probably just hoping he'd stay. Maybe the trade for Schneider and signings of Clowe and Ryder were made in hopes that Kovalchuk felt they were trying to put a better team around him and persuade him to stay. Who knows. Either way it's a huge blow and now they won't even have a 1st rd pick next year when it could be a top-5. Just a mess.
