and left winger Ilya Kovalchuk which would have paid him $102 million over the course of the next 17 years. Kovalchuk, 27, joined the Devils mid-season last year as a free agent after eight and a half seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers. According to the deal, he would have earned $6 million over the next 2 seasons, jumping up to $11.5 from 2012 until 2017, dropping to a mere $10.5 the following season. The salary he would have received would continue to have dropped off until Kovalchuk would be earning just $550,000 per season in the final 5 seasons. The current collective bargaining agreement is set up so that a player's salary come off the salary cap when a player retires after age 35, an age only 8 years off from Kovalchuk's current age. The deal frontloaded his potential salary to lessen the blow the Devils would have to face as he neared retirement from the league.
Kovalchuk has been a solid point getter, averaging more than a point-per-game over his career and was probably the most highly sought-after player at the trade deadline. He has 621 regular season games under his belt, with 338 goals, 304 assists for 642 points. He has seen limited postseason activity, having been in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for only 4 games with Atlanta in 2006-07 (1 goal, 1 assist) and 5 games with the Devils in last year's disappointing season for New Jersey. He did have 2 goals and 4 assists in the 5 game loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, marking the 3rd straight season the Devils have failed to advance past the opening round of the playoffs.
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