No, there is a loophole where he can go straight to the Devils. Doesn't have to go through waivers or anything. Don't think they even need approval either

All 30 gms need to approve his comeback

if thats true hes not coming back
why would gms et a team bring a palyer that good back when they can prevent it

Is any of this true though. I've heard those rumours too. I wanna see where it's written etc

any GM/owner that votes no would destroy their rep with european players

Would the voting be made public though ?

any player that takes offense to a player that signs a contract then fucks off to another country would prob do the same
as far as im concerned vote no hextall we dont want them fuckers bailin to khl make them avoid us

This post was edited by dragoneth on Feb 25 2016 03:01pm

kovalchuk could save a struggling team(devils) and generate more revenue to the NHL, it would make sense to owners/gm to let him in, + devils are not a playoff threat

This post was edited by h4bs on Feb 25 2016 03:19pm

whos to say the devils dont just ship him out for the best offer and he becomes a playoff threat?

Kovalchuk can return as UFA in 2018. If he wants to come back before that he needs approval from all 30 clubs OR has to sit out a full calendar year and get approval from the Devils.