'Till Death Do Us Part: The Lifetime Contract In The NHL

In light of the ongoing soap opera between the NHL and the New Jersey Devils over the contract status of star forward Ilya Kovalchuk, lets examine the entity that is the lifetime contract. 

The thought process of general managers who have succeeded (or in the case of the Devils, attempted) in signing players to these types of contracts is that by signing players to contracts where dollar value declines significantly towards the end of the contract, they're able to reduce said player's salary cap hit, therefore having more cap space left over to invest in other quality players.

In the salary cap era, where a relatively low salary cap ceiling of 59.4 million has forced many quality teams to dismantle their roster (like 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, who've parted with nine players from their championship run), signing these lifetime contracts only makes sense, right?

The salary cap system was implemented in the NHL's first post-lockout season in 2006, and that year it debuted with a ceiling of 39 million dollars. By 2008 it was up to 50.3 million, and last year had a ceiling of 56.8 million dollars.

If the cap has risen 20 million dollars over a six year span, why is it that teams are signing players to contracts that don't expire for a decade based on today's number? And what if the NHL decides to get rid of the salary cap at some point?

The NHL Players Association is currently hiring for a new executive director, and the leading candidate for the position is Donald Fehr, formerly the executive director of the MLB players association from 1986-2009.

If Fehr is hired, who's to say he doesn't fight to get rid of the salary cap when the NHL's collective bargaining agreement expires in two years?  That's exactly what happened in 1995, which led to a locked out season in the MLB.

Other than financial shortsightedness, the risk of signing players to between 10 and 15 year contract is exorbitant. Some teams haven't had to wait long to feel the negative repercussions of signing players to such lengthy deals.

Examples include goaltender Rick Dipietro, who in 2006 signed (at the time) a record 15 year contract worth 67.5 million dollars with the New York Islanders, while in 2008 Vincent Lecavalier signed an 11 year, 85 million dollar contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning after consecutive years of 40+ goals and 90+ points.

Since signing each of their contracts, Dipietro's dealt with career threatening injuries and only played 13 games the past two seasons, while Lecavalier has failed to hit 30 goals or eclipse 70 points in his last two campaigns. Lecavalier will make 10 million dollars annually for the next six seasons.

Last season, Johan Franzen was limited to 27 games in his first season after signing an 11 year deal slated to pay him 43.5 million dollars with the Detroit Red Wings.

Of course, something being considered a risky investment for a team isn't grounds for abolishment of these contracts.

The reason the NHL has began calling foul is the wild fire set off by the 17 year, 102 million dollar Ilya Kovalchuk contract proposed to the league by New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello. The gripe with the deal is that is that 90 million of the 102 of is paid in the first 10 seasons.

They league is calling it cap circumvention, and, well, it pretty much is. The contract is a deliberate attempt to exploit the salary cap system the NHL has established, and it's sad teams have resorted to such tactics.

Almost as sad is the fact that the NHL is just now doing something about it, as they've begun investigating the contracts of Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa and Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo, both of which were signed over a year ago.

The Hossa and Luongo contracts are similar in nature to the Kovalchuk deal, with both players making the peanut like salary of 750k and one million dollars in the final year of their contracts, respectively.

The NHL's actions have led other players, like Boston's Marc Savard–who's salary shrinks from seven million to 525k over a seven year span–to go on the defensive, with Savard's agent threatening to sue if the NHL void's his client's contract.

Illogical, risky, and exploitative of the NHL's salary cap system: the life time contract in today's NHL.

Lou Lamoriello, if the only way you can fit Ilya Kovalchuk on your teams roster is to sign him until the time you're 85, chances are you don't need Ilya Kovalchuk on your roster.