The NHL shows its uglier side in contract dispute with Devils.

With the stench of Lebron James' self-centered drama still lingering in the air, the NHL's pretentious stink is only getting stronger.

When the NHL's free agency market opened, the biggest player to hit the auction was Russian sniper Ilya Kovalchuk, becoming one of the biggest free-agent prizes in recent history.

Kovalchuk is one of the highest scoring players in the NHL, with a total of 338 goals and 304 assists in 621 NHL games. After playing 49 games with the Atlanta Thrashers last season, Kovalchuk was traded to the New Jersey Devils after he rejected the contracts extensions proposed by Atlanta.

The Devils were eliminated from the NHL playoffs almost as soon as they started, bringing a huge disappointment to the team and Kovalchuk. The sniper then decided to test the free agency market on July 1, and that's where the saga all began.

Almost two weeks into free agency, it was confirmed that Kovalchuk's options were either signing with the New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, or his native Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. After a few days, it seemed as if Kovalchuk was on the verge of signing with the Kings. But then, on July 19, the decision was released -- no, not in an ESPN televised event -- however, there was a press conference at the Prudential Center, the Devils home arena, where the team announced the signing of the superstar, and also where Kovalchuk firmly stated his desire to remain with the team long term.

Kovalchuk agreed to re-sign with the New Jersey Devils to a 17-year, 102 million dollar contract, the longest in NHL history, only to have the contract rejected by the NHL only a few hours later. It seems like it can't get more dramatic then that. Guess again.

On July 26, the NHL Players Association filed a grievance against the rejection, leading the matter to be presented before an arbitrator. In the meantime, hate comments against the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, were flooding almost all related article posts and Devils fans were -- and still are -- losing their minds over what the situation will finally turn into.

The hearing for the arbitration took place in Boston and concluded on August 5. Kovalchuk departed to Russia to train for the upcoming season, only to find out a few days later, that the arbitrator, New Jersey native Richard Bloch, sided with the NHL and denied Kovalchuk his contract. The reason why Bloch sided with the NHL was because at the end of the contract, Kovalchuk, now 27, would be 44 years old, an age where most players retire. But the reason that seriously ripped-up the contract was because it circumvented the NHL salary cap.

In the NHL, no matter how much money is being paid to a player in any particular season, the average salary of the contract counts against the salary cap. The contract was designed so that Kovalchuk could get most of the money during his first 8-10 years, while the last five seasons he would receive $550,000 per year, money that he will likely forfeit because he will most likely retire. This, to Bloch, was enough proof that the Devils were trying to circumvent the salary cap in their favor by paying Kovalchuk the amount he wants, while bringing down the average yearly salary of the contract

Now Kovalchuk is in the Motherland, while the Devils organization and the NHL are involved in fist waving. The Devils training to cheat as much as possible with the salary cap, while the NHL wants to flex their muscles and wants to let everyone know that they can't be cheated. The drama continues.