17 Years for Kovalchuk (and the 100 percent rule)?

Since one of the biggest contract jokes in the NHL is Rick DiPietro's 15-year deal in 2006, I would think that the NHL has evolved into a more civilized group of savvy managers.  Sure, the league has seen it's share of 10, 11, 12, 13-year contract extension since the DiPietro debacle, but everyone can just look at those long-term deals and not laugh quite as hard, especially since DiPietro has 11 years still left on his deal and has done nothing with it.

Now, we're looking at a potential deal, which has been rumoured to be tabled by the New Jersey Devils, which would give Ilya Kovalchuk a 17-year deal, worth $100 million in just the first ten years alone.  Of course, the back end of this deal would likely see the salary numbers drop off significantly to lessen the overall cap hit to something more flexible for the Devils to build around with.

With Kovalchuk already being 27 years old as of April 15th, a 17-year deal would see him conclude this deal at the ripe old age of 44.  The benefit for the Devils is that if Kovalchuk does decide to retire after his 10 years, $100 million, he won't hurt the Devils past his retirement, because the cap hit can be nixed due to retirement processes on a deal that was signed before the age of 35.  The Devils, therefore could have a $10 million salary count as a much smaller number, thanks to not paying him quite as much in the last seven years.

Let's see if I can come up with as a possibility of what the deal may look like...

Article 50.7 in the CBA: "100 Percent Rule" for Multi-Year SPCs. The difference between the stated Player Salary and Bonuses in the first two League Years of an SPC cannot exceed the amount of the lower of the two League Years. Thereafter, in all subsequent League Years of the SPC, (i) any increase in Player Salary and Bonuses from one League Year to another may not exceed the amount of the lower of the first two League Years of the SPC (or, if such amounts are the same, the same amount); and (ii) any decrease in Player Salary and Bonuses from one League Year to another may not exceed 50 percent of the Player Salary and Bonuses of the lower of the first two League Years of the SPC (or, if such amounts are the same, 50 percent of the same amount).

So, with that being said, according to the CBA, Kovalchuk could be down to a $1 million salary (which is the popular finishing number for most deals that are front-loaded) as soon as the 2022 season, where he'd be 39 years old at the end of the year and it would bring down the cap hit significantly, if that was the case.

Year	Salary	Cap Hit
2010-2011 (age 28)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2011-2012 (29)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2012-2013 (30)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2013-2014 (31)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2014-2015 (32)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2015-2016 (33)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2016-2017 (34)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2017-2018 (35)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2018-2019 (36)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2019-2020 (37)	$10 million	$6.53 million
2020-2021 (38)	$5 million	$6.53 million
2021-2022 (39)	$1 million	$6.53 million
2022-2023 (40)	$1 million	$6.53 million
2023-2024 (41)	$1 million	$6.53 million
2024-2025 (42)	$1 million	$6.53 million
2025-2026 (43)	$1 million	$6.53 million
2026-2027 (44)	$1 million	$6.53 million

That is a crazy amount that the Devils could definitely deal with, I'm sure. You could work the back end of the deal, so its a rounder number like $7 million, but frankly, why would you throw that cap space away at this point?

These are just numbers I am throwing out there, I don't have any idea what the deal would actually look like, I'm just gauging this on a deal that needs to get done, with the lowest cap hit possible for $100 million over the first 10 years.  It all makes sense to me.