Ex-Caps goalie Phillipp Grubauer and the expansion Seattle Kraken will have to restructure and resubmit their contract after the league rejected their first draft.

As reported by CapFriendly, Grubauer’s initial deal was front-loaded in violation of league rules.

From CapFriendly:

Grubauer’s contract w/ the #SeaKraken was rejected by the NHL central registry for violating the front-loaded contract requirements:

-1.5M increase between 22/23-23/24 exceeds 25% of 1st year salary

The contract needs to be restructured and resubmittedhttps://t.co/C05he8OKGM

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 1, 2021

Grubauer would have earned $5 million in year one, which means the year-to-year change in base pay could not exceed $1.25 million (i.e. 25 percent of the year-one amount). But Grubauer’s pay would have jumped $1.5 million in year three, which is more than $1.25 million, which is not allowed.

The year-by-year breakdown of the Grubauer deal was not previously disclosed.

The NHL cracked down on front-loaded contracts years ago, specifically in the wake of Ilya Kovalchuk’s rejected contract in 2010. It’s a bit surprising and maybe a little concerning that the Kraken would goof in this manner.

Update, 7:00 PM: Geoff Baker reports the Kraken have already resubmitted with minor adjustments.

Headline photo: @IIHFWorlds