Why Did Kovalchuk Go Back To Russia?

[Wolf357]

More money in Russia..He bolts
Rubble crashes...he bolts
Zero loyalty...fine the guy is a pure extremely talented goal scorer ... but had no loyalty at all...Silly for any team to sign the guy...

 

[Zine]

We'll never really know how much money he made in Russia. But with no taxes, and oligarchs paying big money , to think he wasn't approaching his NHL take home pay.

What's with people thinking KHL players don't pay taxes? It's illegal not to pay taxes in Russia. In the KHL it's 13% for a resident, 30% non-resident; compared to tax rates in North America that can push up to 50% for NHLers in some cases. On top of that the NHL implements a 18% escrow cut.

With all the deductions you can understand why Kovalchuk would opt for the equivalent of a USD 5.5 million/yr deal in the KHL instead of a 6.5 million/yr in the NHL.

 

[mouser]

There were two main aspects - He went back to play in Russia during the 2012 lockout and enjoyed his time there. He did not want to leave and Lou was able to convince him to return for the 2nd half of the season. He still wanted to go back after the season though and retired.

He also kinda got cheated with money. He was unhappy with the players' association with regards to the lockout and with the large escrow payments (He made more money in KHL because of this) he had to make leading up to his retirement. It was also never part of the discussion but his contract was intentionally structured so that he got the highest annual salary during the lockout year with the expectation that it would never be paid out. The first two years were at only $6 mil but then jumped to $11.5 during the lockout year. This is why the Devils have such a low recapture penalty.

What are you talking about? Kovalchuk’s contract called for higher salaries in the 4 seasons after the lockout.

 

[Tundra]

It was threefold.

(1) Devils had missed payroll payments in that the league had to jump in to assist them. Kovy soured on the devils rather quickly after seeing this insolvency transpire.
(2) Kovalchuk was homesick
(3) His body was absolutely beaten to a pulp due to the smaller rinks and more physical nature of the NHL.

 

[Bank Shot]

More money in Russia..He bolts
Rubble crashes...he bolts
Zero loyalty...fine the guy is a pure extremely talented goal scorer ... but had no loyalty at all...Silly for any team to sign the guy...

He actually left the Devils when he was set to get into the five biggest years salary wise of his contract.

 

[Devils090]

Did us a favor, obviously hindsight is 20/20

 

[Setec Astronomy]

My brother was friendly with one of his Russian teammates. According to him, one thing that always stuck in Kovy’s craw was the escrow system, moreso than most other players. It probably wasn’t the motivating factor, but it probably contributed.

I imagine he probably gave an indication to Lou that he was thinking of going back to Russia, and Lou told him or his agent if he was going to do it, do it now.

 

[Acallabeth]

Yeah, I'm not sure why everyone but the Devils fans paints Kovalchuk as a greedy villain. He went away from the best-paid years of his contract, and nobody in fact has any proof that he was paid more in the KHL, and that situation helped the Devils as an organization.

 

[Sky04]

Wanted to play at home while still in his prime.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Yeah, I'm not sure why everyone but the Devils fans paints Kovalchuk as a greedy villain. He went away from the best-paid years of his contract, and nobody in fact has any proof that he was paid more in the KHL, and that situation helped the Devils as an organization.

Because he lost a lot of that money in escrow , he simply made more in Russia and he was home sick.

The seeds were planted during the lockout, he didn’t want to come back when the season restarted.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I think the lockout planted the seed for his leave. He probably enjoyed his time a lot being close to his family, the fame and of course the money was comparable.

Devils also finished last in the Atlantic division that year after they lost Parise... pretty deflating for an organization that just made the finals and the players probably had high expectations that they'd get back there. Kovalchuk had spent the majority of his career in Atlanta where the team sucked, and seeing his new team going down that same path probably made him think that this isn't what he signed up for.

 

[Bizz]

1. Money
2. gets to pad his stats against sub-AHL quality players.
3. The Devils were on the brink of bankruptcy and needed to rid themselves of a heavy contract fast, so they persuaded him to "retire".

 

[ShelbyZ]

He made way more money in Russia. The deal he signed with the Devils would have been heavily taxed.

Because he lost a lot of that money in escrow , he simply made more in Russia and he was home sick.

The seeds were planted during the lockout, he didn’t want to come back when the season restarted.

Bingo.

I can't remember where it came from, but either during that odd period where everyone thought Kovy wasn't coming back after the lockout or after his NHL "retirement", there was an article that interviewed his Mom where she basically said that after Escrow and taxes, he was bringing home less than half of his salary from the Devils. KHL contracts face no taxes or escrow and usually have huge bonuses as well.

It was probably the same thing for Datsyuk. In Ken Daniels "If These Walls Could Talk" book, he points out that Datsyuk wasn't shy in complaining about rising Escrow percentages during his last season in the NHL.

 

[Boxscore]

Scratch. A ton of it.

And he gets to make it in his homeland. Not a bad gig if you ask me.

 

[deckercky]

There's no chance Kovalchuk made more on his KHL salary than he made on his NHL contract over the last five years. As mentioned, there still is tax in the KHL, and his salary was literally double his KHL salary through those 5 years. Even with zero tax planning by Kovalchuk and accepting the 50% effective tax assertion, he would have earned more in the NHL.

 

[Legionnaire]

He was trying to take over the Ukraine, but the Ukraine was not feeble.

 

[Critical13]

It was a mix of things:

- Wanting to be in his home country with his family.

- The grind and travel associated with the NHL compared to the NHL.

- Money.

Are you telling me the KHL has less travel than the NHL? I would have expected the opposite, and by a lot.

 

[Pilky01]

The KHL as well as Russia itself looks to be on the upswing from an economic and global relations perspective when Kovalchuk decided to 'retire' from the NHL in July 2013.

 

[El Travo]

Are you telling me the KHL has less travel than the NHL? I would have expected the opposite, and by a lot.

Minus 3 teams, they're all fairly close to eachother.

Vs. The NHL where there's more of a healthy spread in the West.

 

[Critical13]

Minus 3 teams, they're all fairly close to eachother.

Vs. The NHL where there's more of a healthy spread in the West.

Those maps definitely aren't on the same scale, and NHL plays a ton within division, but I will assume you are right.

 

[Ginormousthumbs]

Hope he retires soon. Tired of hearing about him.

 

[THall4]

Family

 

[pezpunk]

Minus 3 teams, they're all fairly close to eachother.

dude, Russia is BIG. St. Petersburg to Novosibirsk, which is less than halfway across the country, is almost 4,000km.

 

[CartographerNo611]

A combination of things that created the perfect storm

- Wanted to play at home
- Got offered a lot of money to play in the KHL, how much more who knows...
- He was playing injured his last NHL season and NHL was a lot physical than the KHL back then
- Devils ownership was bleeding money and 101 million over 17 years is a lot of money....

 

[elmaco]

His contract was front loaded and he played some years which earned him the most, then left for Russia.