NHL: New Jersey Devils Meet With Ilya Kovalchuk
The National Hockey League Team, the New Jersey Devils, met at the New York office and talked about possibly working out another contract with Ilya Kovalchuk, the sports betting favorite.
The Devils managing partner and general manager met with Kovalchuk’s agent. Bill Daly, National Hockey League deputy commissioner, said that no new contract was proposed. He did acknowledge that the talk did involve Kovalchuk’s current situation.
On the 20th of July, the National Hockey League rejected a 17 year contract that Kovalchuk signed. This was a $102 million dollar deal. On the 26th of July there was a grievance filed by the NHLPA. This grievance forced them to have an arbitration hearing.
The National Hockey League did void the contract after the hearing was held. This made Ilya Kovalchuk a free agent again. The Devils are still trying to sign Ilya Kovalchuk, but have had no luck so far.
Gary Bettman, the NHL Commissioner, said that the league is willing to advise the teams on the structure of the contract that would be accepted. They have not confirmed if any team has come to the league about this or not. Ilya Kovalchuk has been a free agent all summer long.
They are expecting a decision on the terms of the contract anytime. Then maybe they can come up with an acceptable contract.