17 Years? Really?

Today, I postpone writing the Saturday happenings of ProgPower VIII so I can bring you an opinion piece.  Many of you know that I follow hockey, and imaginably, there are a few of you that are wondering (or not) what I think of left winger Ilya Kovalchuk resigning with the New Jersey Devils for 17 years and $102 million.

Before I sound off on the deal, I would like to say that any team would benefit from having a perennial 40 goal scorer...if they can handle getting next to nothing on defense.  I believe that the Devils and Los Angeles Kings (the other team interested in bringing in Kovalchuk) were the best destinations.  However, the reported contract demands prevented him from being signed until yesterday, about 19 days after the NHL free agency began.  Money is not the issue with me as far as Kovalchuk is concerned.  Yes, he doesn't play defense like Alexander Ovechkin does, but then again, neither one really shines their brightest when the playoffs arrive (see last season for an example).  Remember, if you were to sign Kovalchuk, it would be to score goals, and he does that, a lot.  My issue is length: 17 years?  What were the Devils thinking?  You cannot tell me that he will still be in the NHL at age 44, let alone, still be with the Devils.  Did the Devils not learn from their tri-state rival New York Islanders and their mistakes?  For those of you who aren't familiar with the Islanders and their blunders, here are their two best examples.

1. When the Islanders acquired center Alexei Yashin from the Ottawa Senators in June of 2001, the Islanders signed him to a 10 year, $87 million contract.  After the 2007 season, the Islanders ate that contract, allowing him to leave for a league in Russia, all with the Islanders having to pay the remainder of that contract.

2. Prior to the 15 year, $67 million contract that he signed prior to the 2006-2007 season, goaltender Rick DiPietro was a rising star.  Since then?  A string of concussions and other injuries have left him a shell of his former self.  It is uncertain when he will play again for the Islanders, or for any other team, for that matter.

Now, back to the Devils: the Kovalchuk signing is a huge gamble, where more often than not, the team loses. 17 years is way too much of a committment to one player; heck, very few players even play 17 years in their professional career.  Let's hope for Kovalchuk's sake that the Devils win a Stanley Cup or two during the life of the contract with him on the team.

UPDATE: It looks like the NHL agrees, since they rejected the deal.