The Devils have turned their attention toward getting their payroll under the $59.4 million salary cap rather than fight the NHL on punishment imposed for signing Ilya Kovalchuk to his original contract.

According to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and other league officials, the Devils will not appeal the league’s decision to fine the club $3 million and strip it of two draft picks for circumventing the salary cap with Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million deal.

"My understanding is that the matter is closed, both from the League standpoint and the Devils’, as well. There is not going to be an appeal," Bettman said after yesterday’s NHL Board of Governors meeting in New York.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said via e-mail: "I think the page has finally been turned."

In addition to the fine, the Devils will lose their third-round draft pick in 2011 and a first-round pick in one of the next four years. The Devils will determine which year they plan to forfeit the first-round pick.

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello, who did not return repeated calls, has maintained that arbitrator Richard I. Bloch said there was no ill intent to break the rules. However, Bettman indicated Bloch’s ruling did not change the league’s feeling about penalizing the Devils.

"Without getting into the specifics, the arbitrator found there was a circumvention in this particular case, and I’ve been very clear to the Board that in the event there’s a finding of circumvention it has to be punished. It’s that simple," Bettman said.

Bettman brought up the 2008 case of defenseman Jonas Frogren, whose contract was rejected because the Toronto Maple Leafs signed him to a deal above the entry-level limit. The Maple Leafs were penalized a fourth-round draft pick in 2009 and fined $500,000.

"I’ve been very clear all along that in the event of a circumvention — particularly when you have a case where there’s an independent system arbitrator finding a circumvention — it has to be punished," Bettman explained. "It’s no different, for example, than when Toronto was punished on Frogren, which was a violation as well — although some would contend at the time (that it was) not that big a deal. The cap has to be respected.

"There is not a requirement to find intent. I’m not suggesting for a minute that the Devils acted in bad faith or thought they were trying to do something wrong."

Notes: Defenseman Anssi Salmela, recovering from anterior cruciate ligament knee surgery, will start training camp on the long-term injured reserve list. It may be months before he is capable of playing. ... Winger Vladimir Zharkov said he spoke to Kovalchuk this week: "I think he’s maybe a little nervous. He’s a good man. I think everybody is happy he signed here."

Zharkov played 40 games last season and didn’t score a goal — the longest any forward in Devils history has gone without scoring a goal (defenseman David Hale holds the team record of 146 games without a goal).

"I hope this season is better for me for scoring goals," said Zharkov. "I changed sticks. I changed the curve. I know I can score goals."