Just a day after the New Jersey Devils apparently signed a historic 17-year contract with forward Ilya Kovalchuk, the NHL big wigs stepped in and shut it down.  The reason?  The league feared that the $102 million deal was an elaborate way of circumventing the salary cap.  

So where do Kovalchuk and the Devils go from here? 

If history is any indicator the hold on the contract might just be temporary.  Here are some other contracts that, while they may not have gotten the publicity, were initially delayed by the league for one reason or another...

Milton Bradley 3-year $30 million deal with the Cubs
Reason it was declined initially: MLB wanted to confirm whether the Cubs seriously wanted to give Milton Bradley $10 million a year or whether it was another drunken hoax by White Sox GM, Ken Williams.

David Beckham $250 million deal with LA Galaxy
Reason it was declined initially: MLS had to check with accounting to see if the entire league even generated $250 million in revenue much less one franchise

JaMarcus Russell 6-year $68 million to the Raiders
Reason it was declined initially: Roger Goodell demanded that Russell's representatives produce tangible evidence that Al Davis was still alive.

Ricky Williams $8.8 million guaranteed with the Saints
Reason it was declined initially: Because Ricky had Master P negotiate it.  Really.

Gilbert Arenas 6-years $111 million with Washingon Wizards
Reason it was declined initially: League officials deemed that a signature reading just the word "Hibachi" was not valid

Bryant Reeves 6-years $65 million with the Grizzlies
Reason it was declined initially: Commissioner David Stern felt it necessary to argue that a buzzcut with the pinpoint precision of Bryant Reeves' deserved more than $11 million per year due to the marketing potential.

Mike Hampton 8-years $121 million with the Rockies
Reason it was declined initially: The league requested additional time to evaluate the increased costs of baseballs it would incur with Hampton pitching at elevation.

Joe Johnson 6-years $119 million with the Hawks
Reason it was declined initially: Because Joe Johnson is getting $119 million. Something has to be wrong.

John Calipari 8-year $31.65 million with University of Kentucky
Reason it was declined initially: NCAA officials needed to review and approve the fine print outlining how a portion of Calipari's salary would be allocated to high school players via unmarked cash bills each year.