ESPN.com reported on Thursday that the Devils have fired head coach John MacLean and have rehired Jacques Lemaire, who coached the team to the Stanley Cup in the 1994-95 season. This is Lemaire’s third coaching stint with the team.

Lemaire told ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun that he plans on being behind the bench on Thursday night when the team will host the Islanders in Newark. Lemaire said that he received a call from Lou Lamoriello, the general manager of the Devils, on Wednesday, offering him the coaching job.

“John has done an exceptional job. I have no issue with him,” Lamoriello said. “Our record certainly isn’t what any of us like, but it has nothing to do with coaching.”

The Devils are 9-22-2 on the season, and are tied with the Islanders for last place in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have 20 points this year. According to ESPN, MacLean still had the support of Lamoriello in late October, when the team opened the 2010-11 season with a 2-6-1 record. There was ‘no thought’ to dismissing MacLean from his coaching duties.

The National Hockey League Player’s Association is challenging the league’s rejection of the 17-year, $102 million contract between Ilya Kovalchuk and the Devils, according to the Associated Press.

Last week, the league rejected the longest deal in NHL history, saying it violated the salary cap.

The union debated the NHPLA’s filed grievance Monday, saying Kovalchuk and the union are entitled to a quick resolution under the collective bargaining agreement.

The NHL said they received a copy of the NHLPA’s grievance and deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement, “Although there is no defined timetable at this point, we intend to work with the Players’ Association to ensure an expeditious resolution of this dispute. The league looks forward to the opportunity to establish its position before the arbitrator.”

Kovalchuk’s deal would have run through the 2026-27 season, at which time he would be 44 years old, earning him $550,000 in each of the last five seasons of the contract — a likely reason for its denial. Kovalchuk would earn  $98.5 million in the first 11 years of the contract.

Mark Everson of NYpost.com says a source close to Ilya Kovalchuk indicated the Russian free agent is, again, close to making a decision about where he’ll lace up his skates next season.

The Kings, Devils, St. Petersburg of the KHL and a silent NHL bidder have shown interest in the left winger, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2001 NHL draft by the Thrashers — the first Russian to be drafted first overall.

Kovalchuk, considered by some as the best NHL unrestricted free agent ever, was nominated for Rookie of the Year in his 2001-02 season (51 points in 65 games) in Atlanta and played eight seasons there before being traded to New Jersey, choosing free agency at the end of his 2009-10 season.

He was the first Thrashers player to ever score 50 goals in a season when he returned to Atlanta from Russia following the 2004-05 lockout and finished the season scoring 52. In 2007-08 he completed his second 52-goal season in three years.

Last season, in the final year of Kovalchuk’s contract with the Thrashers, the two parties could not make an agreement over a contract extension, as Kovalchuk reportedly denied 12-year, $101 million and seven-year $70 million proposals. The Thrashers traded him to the Devils on Feb. 4 with Anssi Salmela for Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya and Patrice Cormier plus a first-round pick and a swap of second-rounders.

The Kings say they believe their chances of scoring Kovalchuk are 50-50. On July 5, Kovalchuk appeared ready to sign with New Jersey when he reverted back to talks with Los Angeles unexpectedly.

The Devils have offered him $60 million over seven years, $100 million over 17 — to revitalize their left wing where Patrik Elias will take over with Jason Arnott available for the center spot. Zach Parise, up for restricted free agency next summer and unrestricted the summer after that, and Brian Rolston and Dainius Zubrus, are also available to play wing in New Jersey.

NYpost.com reported July 5 that the Devils had $6 million in cap space available, with 16 certain roster players, but would have to cover six roster sports with $4 million, turning $2 million over to Kovalchuk, spilling over the $59.4 million cap by $5.94 million until the regular season starts.

Kovalchuk made $7.5 million last season, and recorded 27 points in 27 games with the Devils.

Referring to Kovalchuk as the NHL’s “Jamesian free agent,” the New York Post wrote that one of Canada’s national outlets officially proposed a one-hour prime-time special announcing his decision after LeBron James‘ “Decision” on ESPN.