Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli issued a statement regarding the NHL investigation of Marc Savard's seven-year contract extension signed in December of 2009.
"We are cooperating fully with the league in its investigation of the Marc Savard contract extension," Chiarelli wrote in his statement. "The league informed us upon their registration of the contract on December 1, 2009, that they would be investigating the circumstances surrounding this contract. From that point on, they commenced their investigation and it has been ongoing since then. On August 4, I met with two league appointed lawyers as part of the investigation. We will continue to cooperate with the league in any future investigative proceedings if necessary, and we will have no further comment on the matter at this time."
Savard's name was brought up by the NHL after the league recently rejected Ilya Kovalchuk's 17-year, $102 million deal with the New Jersey Devils. The footnotes of the the arbitrator's decision mentioned that other contracts which conclude when a player is over 40 years old and include heavily front-loaded salaries also will be investigated. The four contracts cited were those of Savard, Marian Hossa, Roberto Luongo and Chris Pronger.
Savard, 33, is slated to earn $25.5 million over the first four years of the extension, followed by $2.55 million in the final three years.
