NHL player agent Ian Pulver, speaking on Off The Record with Michael Landsberg on Wednesday, disagreed that Ilya Kovalchuk‘s original 17-year, $102 million contract should have been rejected by the NHL.
“In the collective agreement there is no limit or term in the length of a contract,” said Pulver, who represents Mike Cammalleri among other players. “If there was no bad faith dealing, and there was no bad faith dealing here, then I think (Kovalchuk’s agent) Jay Grossman was following the rules that were put before him”.
Pulver and Grossman appeared on OTR and discussed the deal that was rejected and which cost the New Jersey Devils a $3 million fine from the NHL and the loss of two draft picks for circumventing the salary cap.
“The NHL won the arbitration, so clearly from that standpoint it gave them a platform,” said Grossman.