Mark Spector

Mark Spector is a columnist for sportsnet.ca

Mike Gillis isn’t the kind of guy who walks around with an ear to ear grin on his face.

Don’t take it the wrong way; he’ll have a laugh once in a while, but he’s not exactly Dennis Hull or Eddie Shack.

So you can imagine him looking over both shoulders when the phone rang on Monday and the voice on the other end from National Hockey League offices in New York informed him that there was a chance — however remote — that the league might just void Roberto Luongo’s 12-year contract.

"Wait a second," you can hear him saying, stifling a smile. "You’re telling me that I might get relief from the biggest albatross on my payroll? And I could re-sign him for say, five years, not 12?

"By the way, has Antti Niemi signed anywhere yet?"

If you were surprised that arbitrator Richard Bloch actually named Luongo, Chris Pronger and Marc Savard by name in his Monday ruling that overturned the Ilya Kovalchuk contract, you shouldn’t be.

All three of those contracts do not begin until this coming season. He could have thrown Marian Hossa’s name into the mix as well, as his deal — a front-loaded, 12-year deal which began last season and remains under investigation by the NHL.

"It is inaccurate when people report that those contracts have been registered and deemed to be all right," a prominent agent who did not want to be named told sportsnet.ca on Tuesday.

A letter was sent to each of those teams saying that the contracts would be registered, but there would be an investigation as to whether the contracts were OK.

"Hossa’s contract has been registered," the agent said. "But there is an ongoing investigation that has not been closed by the league."

The conspiracy theorists are already suggesting that New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello put this deal on the tee for Bettman, certain in the knowledge that the arbitrator would rule in the league’s favour and thus opening the door to the re-examination of other contracts.

That part may or may not be true, but we can guarantee you this: by keeping the door open on the Pronger, Savard, Luongo and Hossa contracts, Bettman was simply waiting for a contract offer to come along that he thought the league could defeat in arbitration.

Now there is precedent on which to go back and fight the others.

These are the games that are played between owners and organized labour in every sector of the work force. They just are not as interesting when it’s a provincial government versus the local nurses.

And it is you’ve got to admit, pretty astute work by the commissioner.

"You’ll never quote me saying that," our agent said.

He did admit though, that the void of leadership atop the NHLPA is what allowed Richard Bloch to become the arbitrator of what will go down as a key momentum swing in the run up to the 2012 CBA negotiations.

"In NHL circles he has become known as a shill of the NHL," said the agent. "He always sides with the NHL, it’s well known."

Well, not so fast.

Bloch gave Scott Gomez (when he was a Devil) a $5 million dollar award for the 2006-2007 season.

He also awarded Ray Bourque $2.25 million for the 1993-1994 season, making Bourque the highest paid defenceman for that coming season.

Bloch also ruled that the Rangers had to pay Bobby Holik and Jed Ortmeyer their respective signing bonuses that the team withheld during and after the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Such is the life of an arbitrator; the winners call you fair and the losers call you a farce.

There is a feeling out there, however, that the NHLPA should have been far more picky in choosing an arbitrator for an issue as eventful as this one.

This is a big loss for the PA and one that could lead to further losses if the league challenges a 12-year Luongo deal that pays out 94 per cent of its worth in the first eight years.

Or a seven-year, $34.45 million Pronger deal that takes him to age 42 and pays out 97 per cent of its salary after year 5.

Or Savard’s seven-year, $28.05 million deal, which pays just $525,000 in the final two seasons.

But the Kovalchuk camp was in a hurry and the league was pushing for Bloch.

We never cared much for Bob Goodenow, but he wouldn’t have allowed anyone favoured by the league to preside over something as important as this.