The Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk are once again at the mercy of the National Hockey League.

Both sides submitted a new contract to the league this past Friday. The Devils and Kovalchuk worked extensively with the league to create the framework of a new contract, which is a 15-year, $100 million dollar contract. Kovalchuk will account for a $6.66 million dollar cap hit.

Continue reading for more details on the newly-submitted contract.

Throughout the offseason, Running With The Devils will preview this season’s upcoming matchups. The Devils, who finished second in the Eastern Conference last season, will face every team in the NHL at least once next season. Today we take a look at a familiar foe, the Montreal Canadiens.

Continue reading after the jump for the preview!

A second attempt by the New Jersey Devils to sign free agent Ilya Kovalchuk has reportedly been turned down by the NHL.

There is certainly a lot of discussion going on, either on the internet or hockey talk radio about some of the proposed rule change experiments at the R & D camp in Toronto. I thought this would be a good time to weigh in on some changes I would like to see, whether or not they are currently being experimented with at the R&D camp.

During the offseason, Running With The Devils will preview the matchup between New Jersey and their opponents. New Jersey, which finished second in the conference and won the Atlantic Division last season, will look to duplicate their success and finally get out of the first round of the playoffs this season. In today’s second schedule preview, we focus on an Eastern Conference opponent – the Boston Bruins.

Make sure to read after the jump for the full preview!

Throughout the offseason, Running With The Devils' will preview the upcoming 2010-2011 season schedule for the New Jersey Devils. New Jersey finished second in the Eastern Conference and made the playoffs for the thirteenth straight year last season, and the team will look to duplicate that success in the upcoming season. After previewing a few teams so far (you can find those under the “Analysis/Reaction” tab), we move to the next team – the Colorado Avalanche.

Continue after the jump for the full preview with the Avs.

Yesterday, I put up my initial reaction to the ruling that Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract had been denied. The response was posted about an hour after the initial ruling, and quotes from system arbitrator Richard Bloch’s decision were scarce.

Eventually, quotes from the decision began circulate, and now, with more information, I can give a better opinion on today’s events. And, when looking at the quotes, I’ve come to find that Bloch’s evidence for his ruling doesn’t fully satisfy me. Bloch’s reasoning, while good, doesn’t provide a solid case against the Devils or the contract. After the jump, I provide my reasoning for this conclusion.

So it was July 19th that we got word Kovalchuk was coming to town, for a very long time. On July 20th, we introduced him and his mega-long-term contract to the fans on the Devils. That night, the league said not so fast and now 3 weeks later we should pretend that none of this ever happened. Kovalchuk is once again a free agent after Richard Bloch ruled in favor of the NHL.

A day of anxious waiting and nervous joking for Devils’ fans ended after 5 p.m. today, when they learned systems arbitrator Richard Bloch (a New Jersey native) upheld the NHL’s rejection of Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract agreement with the Devils.

When the news first broke, I wanted to fire off an angry post about NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the decision. I was going to rant and rave about Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg, and the other players who signed similar deals.

But, when it comes down to it, Bloch made a decision that wasn’t much of a surprise, and the league finally made headway into putting these long-term deals to bed. Read after the jump for my continued reaction of the arbitrator's ruling on Kovalchuk's grievance.