Per the CBA reached in January 2013, teams receiving a “cap advantage” from existing long-term contracts (defined as seven years or more) will be penalized in the event the player retires or “defects” from the NHL before the contract expires. A team receives a “cap advantage” when the player’s actual salary exceeds his cap hit in a given year. Please note, contracts that fall under the "over-35" rule do not qualify for cap benefit recapture, the NHL has confirmed. CapGeek's recapture calculator helps determine whether a team is on the hook for a recapture penalty and if it is, how much:
Parameters
If Ilya Kovalchuk retires or defects in the 2019 off-season (age 36 as of July 1 that year) and is not traded before doing so, following is an estimated breakdown of the recapture penalties for the involved teams.
| Team |
Benefit
Cap benefit the team received (total salary payment less total cap hit) while the player was on the team prior to retirement. Teams do not receive a credit for seasons with negative cap benefit (where cap hit exceeds salary).
|
Penalty
Cap penalty charged to the team each season following retirement until the end year of the contract. Penalties do not apply to teams which traded a player prior to the new CBA agreement in 2012.
|
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Devils (2019-20 through 2024-25) | $27,333,333 | $4,555,556 |
IMPORTANT NOTES: Teams do not receive a credit for seasons with negative cap benefit (where cap hit exceeds salary) ... Calculations for players who have been traded during the season are rough estimates based on best information available and may differ from actual league numbers.