hf101 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 wow, he says "It is something I have been thinking about for a long time" huh?The New Jersey Devils announced on Twitter on Thursday that forward Ilya Kovalchuk has announced his retirement."After many conversations with Ilya over the past year on his desire to retire from the National Hockey League, Ilya's decision became official today," said general manager Lou Lamoriello in a statement."On behalf of the entire organization, I wish Ilya and his family all the best in their future endeavors."source Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sekkes85 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Wow unreal. PPG player retiring at age 30.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Is this real???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Yes, it is real. Just saw it all over the internet - TSN, yahoo, espn, everywhere.Wow... Does THIS screw the Devils up or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo1917 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Wow...off to the KHL ?or just done with the game ?Does retiring keep him from collecting his pension and health benefits down the road ?Not a huge deal if he's going back to mother Russia , just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 All 84 of the Devils fans should be outraged! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sekkes85 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 He just threw away $77 million dollars remaining on that contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Why couldn't OUR flakey Russian retire? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Wow. Didn't see THAT coming. According to TSN Devils are stuck with a cap hit of around $300K per year (not that bad really) for the next 12 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 This makes no sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brelic Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 He wants to go back to the KHL, and this is the only way to do it. Retire legitimately, pick up your puck, and go home.It's not good for the Devils, but they've known this has been coming for a long time, apparently. But it's good for the Flyers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 It's actually not that bad for the Devils, cash strapped the way they are. He was due over 56 million of the remaining 77 in the next five years. They'll miss his scoring, but I don't know that they were really going aanywhere for the next few years anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 This guy just boned his club. If he wants to retire fine, God love ya, don't let the door hit ya and all that. If he had done this only ONE WEEK AGO they could have kept Clarkson and tried to get a free agent or two before the pickings were all gone... He is a real piece of work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDI-Flyer Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Bad news for the franchise... But they did just gain a lot of cap flexibility! He just threw away $77 million dollars remaining on that contract.I really wouldn't be surprised to see him make a "comeback" with SKA St Petersburg in the the near future. And if he does you can guarantee he will make $10-15 million a year, and tax free at that. I don't think his financial future is too uncertain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Bad news for the franchise... But they did just gain a lot of cap flexibility!I really wouldn't be surprised to see him make a "comeback" with SKA St Petersburg in the the near future. And if he does you can guarantee he will make $10-15 million a year, and tax free at that. I don't think his financial future is too uncertain Some reports are 20/year. He's not going to miss that 77. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDI-Flyer Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Some reports are 20/year. He's not going to miss that 77.For sure...On the other hand I guarantee you his personal security costs will go up hugely... Mafia will need to be paid off big time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 (edited) I'm just a little bit skeptical of this whole thing. As far as I knew, the cash strapped Devils just missed thier 3rd loan payment, and the league had to step in and save them...again. Maybe this was a back door deal to allow them to stay afloat, like you retire and we make it worth your while when we get back on our feet....and they only pay out 300,000 a year, great deal for everyone. This is no surprise to me really, Illya always stuck me as the type who really didn't want to be here, didn't really care about the cup etc....just my own hunch there.Wow, is the Devils offense gonna stink or what? It will be a whole lot of Henrique and Elias, and not much else. Those guys are gonna wear out, facing the top checkers from every team every time they touch the ice. The certainly won't be going after Zajac much, he's not a legit offensive threat....which allows for no heat to be taken off the top line. They will miss the sandpaper of Clarkson also, even though he's making a living off 2 big years, and not much else on the resume. Edited July 12, 2013 by jammer2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 you guys want some fun reading.....here is the thread on Kovy's retirement...enjoy!http://www.devilsrule.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12163AND we still have to give up our 1st round pick next year. This guy is a grade a (bleep). (bleep) him in his ****pipe.What a pile of horse****. Man that really hurts our already anemic offense.SCHNEIDER IN NET, MARTY ON THE WING!!As far as free agents, why would anyone want to come here besides $$$?Well, I've never been wasted before, but good thing I bought some beer the other night.Can we get a trade in jersey?pvp64 wrote:PatVerbeek wrote:...the footsteps you hear are Vanderbeek's potential minority owners running for the exits.... Good point, I did not even think about that, wow all we have to do now is go into bankruptcy and make the off season complete.And wouldn't Bettman just love to have the Millionaire from Toronto come in and save the day by moving the team to Hamiltonany way enjoy.....Kovy just ....the devils..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Oh dear Lord, the 1st rounder next year...HAH AHAHAHAH!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 This is no surprise to me really, Illya always stuck me as the type who really didn't want to be here, didn't really care about the cup etc....just my own hunch there.Wow, is the Devils offense gonna stink or what? It will be a whole lot of Henrique and Elias, and not much else. Those guys are gonna wear out, facing the top checkers from every team every time they touch the ice. The certainly won't be going after Zajac much, he's not a legit offensive threat....which allows for no heat to be taken off the top line. They will miss the sandpaper of Clarkson also, even though he's making a living off 2 big years, and not much else on the resume.He surely wanted to be in NJ when they offered him that $100M contract. All was good when they were competing for the Cup. As @pilldoc showed he has screwed the franchise..... did he make this decision before Free Agency began so the Devils could try to recover....nope. He timed his decision so the Devils cant possibly recover this season, so they have a shot at the #1 draft pick next season .....whoops no, that is the #1 pick the Devils lost due to signing Kolvalchuk.Damm Selfish if you ask me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 @hf101 Agreed, if he feels so strongly about the situation, surely he could have made this decision a few months ago! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 An interesting comment from Richard Cloutier's blog on hockeybuzz.the NHL must protect its interests. Perhaps one way to get the message across is to pull out of the Sochi Olympics unless an iron-clad set of policies are created to protect NHL teams from other player moves like this, or teams themselves for that matter, from breaching contracts that were made in good faith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachflyer Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I really wouldn't be surprised to see him make a "comeback" with SKA St Petersburg in the the near future. And if he does you can guarantee he will make $10-15 million a year, and tax free at that. I don't think his financial future is too uncertain I wouldn't call it a "comeback". It pretty much is a sure thing that he will play in the KHL. Playing over there in Russia during the lockout apparently sealed his decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 This will just further the sentiment that it's to risky to draft a Russian. They might never come over, or quit when you need them the most. It's unfortunate, but that will be the prevailing theory. Having said all that, I would have still taken the chance on drafting Nuich with the #11 pick had Dallas not pulled the trigger. To much upside, talent to pass up at that point of the draft. The thing every GM has to worry about now is this looming KHL cash bonanza. I keep hearing this 25 mill a year figure thrown around....read it more than once.....AND tax free on top of it. At those outlandish prices will North American players suck it up, put up with the foreign soil and the culture shock....after all, Stamkos can make 50 mill in 2 seasons over there (actually it's 30 mill over the Max allowed in the CBA), that's WAY more than any NHL team can pony up, for a few years, I see some making the journey over there. This is a more legit threat than some think. They need one big non-Russian to defect...kinda like the WHA when they stold Bobby Hull from the NHL...then the floodgates *could* open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 @jammer2,They could, I suppose. Though I would hazard a guess that most NA players will stay here, having grown up dreaming of lifting the Cup. Where I think the real threat lies is in the bringing over of European talent. If the pay is better, and it's closer to home, why play in NA? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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