Front-loaded contracts are bad for just about everyone

Hey I really don't care what these rich athletes make. It most cases it's way too much. But I just don't see how they are good for hockey. What was the NHLPA thinking when they grieved the rejection of the Kovalchuk contract. They should have left Kovalchuk and his agent Jay Grossman to fight that battle. Here is how I see it.

Owners

They are crying the blues because they aren't making enough money so they go out and commit to 10 or more years for huge amounts of money. Then they front-load the contracts to reduce the impact of the contracts at least on paper which allows them to spend even more money.

General Managers

The creative geniuses who came up with this contracts that essentially get around the CBA are shooting themselves in the foot. When one of these players do down with an injury it creates a huge hole in their lineup that frankly they will not be able to fill. What if that 12 year player has a career ending injury with 8 years left to go? Kudos to GMs like Brian Burke who refuse to play the game. It's not just the front-loaded contracts. Sending players to the minor or loaning them to teams in Europe are also cheating as far as I'm concerned.

NHLPA

There are about 700 players in the NHL and less than 20 have these huge mega-contracts. Well in the salary cap world that leave very little dollars for the rest of the players that the NHLPA represents. These guys should be up in arms. So Clarke MacArthur wins a arbitration award for $2.4 million and Atlanta walks away leaving him a free agent. So instead he signs with the Leafs for less money than he was earning last season. Good veteran players are sitting at home waiting for a call that might never come because teams don't have the money to pay them. These contracts are very bad for the 90% of players who get signed for one or two years.

Fans

Someone has to pay for the Kovalchuk contract. It will be the Devil fans. Ticket buyers for the next 15 years will be paying for this signing. Well beyond the point he will actually have a positive impact on the team. With Kovalchuk in their lineup the Devils are still not a Stanley Cup contender and may even end up weaker. Afterall they will have to unload enough salary to carry the extra $6.67 million per year. Is Kovalchuk going to fill in that gap? Don't count on it. What if the team can't afford Zach Parise in the future because of the Kovalchuk contract? Fans aren't going to like that scenario.

Yeah the $100 million contract works out real well for Ilya Kovalchuk and Jay Grossman but I can't think who else will benefit.