Approval Finally Given to Kovalchuk

With final NHL and NHLPA approval on changes to the way long-term deals are handled against the cap, the Summer of Ilya Kovalchuk has now concluded with the unrestricted free agent superstar signing a 15-year deal worth $100 million, which is considered to be grandfathered in previous to these changes and now everything can move forward into the 2011 season.

With this new CBA amendment in place, this deal that Kovalchuk has signed will be the last of its kind, a deal which has years past the normal retirement age at a lower salary to reduce the overall cap hit.  Kovalchuk's cap hit to the Devils will be $6.667 million for every season he laces up the skates, up until he retires.

Now, that the deal has been approved, we can now safely insert Kovalchuk's numbers into the big fantasy machine and start making some more concrete assumptions for the 2011 season.

Now, I've gone through Kovalchuk's 2010 more than enough times already this Summer, so I'm going to skip over that and get right into the roster, as it stands after the signing.

Forwards	Defense	Goalies
Ilya Kovalchuk	Andy Greene	Martin Brodeur
Zach Parise	Henrik Tallinder	Johan Hedberg
Tomas Zajac	Bryce Salvador
Jamie Langenbrunner	Anton Volchenkov
Patrik Elias	Colin White
Jason Arnott	Anssi Salmela
Brian Rolston	Mark Fraser
Dainius Zubrus
David Clarkson
Rod Pelley
Vladimir Zharkov
Pierre Letourneau-Leblond

In theory, the 12 forwards, seven defense and two goalies would be enough to start the season with, but the books say otherwise, now that the new salary cap figure for Kovalchuk has been disclosed as $6.667 million per season.  I have this 21-man roster, plus two buyouts on their books, at $63.1 million against the salary cap, which is $3.7 million over the salary cap ceiling.  Immediately, you would likely look at cap figures that would easily manage the cap, but this could turn out to be its own process at the end of the day.  The Devils will want to win now and straight subtractions are not good for a team that is in that position.

I don't think I'll make any assumptions of who is going to stay or go this season, but I will make some projections on my list as to who will do what, albeit with the team that is listed above.  If there are changes, they are likely going to impact scoring and winning in one way or another. 

I think what I like the most is Kovalchuk getting a full season with some very talented players in New Jersey, which should help his already top-end scoring numbers, plus the inclusion of Anton Volchenkov, more so for Martin Brodeur's sake, since the Devils play a little bit more defense-first and having a good shot blocker on your team is only going to help.

The next couple weeks will still be a little bit of a roller coaster ride for the Devils and their fans, but I'm sure it will all get worked out well.