While the New Jersey Devils and Kovalchuk re-negotiate the contract that was ruled void Monday in arbitration court, the Blackhawks, Canucks, Flyers and Bruins were left waiting to learn what action NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will take, if any.

The 20-page ruling by arbitrator Richard Bloch (first posted on Offside: A Sports Law Blog) included in a footnote on page 19 that the contracts of Hossa, Luongo, Pronger and Savard “are being investigated currently with at least the possibility of a subsequent withdrawal of the registration.” Neither Bettman, nor any league representative, has commented publicly on the investigations.

A decision on the validity of each contract will be made at some point, however. According to section 26.10 (e) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, “at the conclusion of his investigation, the Investigator (in this case, Bettman) shall issue a written determination regarding whether or not, in his opinion, a Circumvention has occurred.”

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli issued a statement revealing some details of the league’s investigation into the seven-year, $28 million contract extension Savard signed in December of last year:
 

We are cooperating fully with the League in its investigation of the Marc Savard contract extension. The League informed us upon their registration of the contract on December 1, 2009 that they would be investigating the circumstances surrounding this contract. From that point on, they commenced their investigation and it has been ongoing since then. On August 4th, I met with two League appointed lawyers a part of the investigation. We will continue to cooperate with the League in any future investigative proceedings if necessary and we will have no further comment on the matter at this time.

Savard will make $1.05 million over the final two years of the deal and $27 million in the first five years — the same kind of “front-loading” the NHL objected to in the now-void Kovalchuk contract.

Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis told the Vancouver Sun via e-mail that “we have complied with the NHL request for information and are awaiting further instructions.” Luongo’s 12-year contract, signed in February 2009, takes him to age 43. As noted in Bloch’s footnotes, the goaltender will make $7 million per year for the first nine years, and an average of about $1.2 million during his final three years, “amounting to some 5.7 percent of the total compensation during that time period.”

Pronger makes almost 97 percent of the $34.45 million salary in the first five years of his seven-year contract with the Flyers. Hossa makes almost 94 percent of his $63.3 million salary in the first eight years of a 12-year contract with the Blackhawks. Neither player or team has commented publicly on the respective investigations.

Bettman still has another decision to make: If, or how, to penalize the New Jersey Devils for circumventing the CBA. The CBA decrees that the commissioner can fine the organization up to $5 million, force the Devils to forfeit any number of future draft picks, fine Kovalchuk up to $1 million, or even suspend Kovalchuk or his agent, Jay Grossman.

Count the Blackhawks, Canucks, Flyers and Bruins among the those anticipating that decision now, too.

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