Kovalchuk Cashes In With Devils

For anyone who still held out hope that the Boston Bruins would come out of left field and make a run at free agent winger Ilya Kovalchuk, the dream has ended this afternoon. The electrifying and offensively stunning forward cashed in on a contract of insane proportions by today's NHL standards, locking himself up with New Jersey for a 17-year deal that will pay him $150 million.

17 years. It will be 2027 by the time Kovalchuk is a free agent again. Tyler Seguin will be a 35-year-old veteran in the NHL, hopefully having won a few Cups here in Beantown. Marc Savard will reach the big 50, and Tom Brady's 1-year-old son will receive his high school diploma. 17 years is a long time. Kovalchuk will be a New Jersey Devil for a long time. And he'll make a lot of money, too.

In additional NHL news that shatters the hopes of Bruins fans, Simon Gagne has been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many observers hoped that the B's could spin a deal for Gagne involving Tim Thomas or Marc Savard, but the possibility of that is now shot. As each day passes, it looks more and more like the Bruins will open the season with their current roster mostly intact.