I read items about Los Angeles "terminating" Ilya Kovalchuk's contract. I know that the buyout period has ended, so what entitles the Kings to do this? I would think that the only ground would have to be some violation of the CBA or standard player contract, and I haven't seen anything to that effect anywhere.

It's important to note that this is a mutual contract termination, not one initiated by the Kings. If Kovalchuk did not agree to this, the Kings would have to either eat the remainder of his contract or buy him out this summer, and then they would owe him 2/3 of the $4¼ million in salary due to him next season.

However, since the Kings no longer have any desire to play Kovalchuk, it's in his best interest to walk away from his contract so he can pursue an opportunity elsewhere. Unless they work out some financial severance, the Kings won't owe him another dime. That's part of the reason why they're waiting until 12/15 when his bonus gets paid.

The only obstacle to this would be the NHL. There is a section in the CBA that says that players cannot be given any compensation outside of the standard player contract. However, that clause is generally to avoid teams paying players additional salary or gifts to acquire their services without it counting towards the cap. Since the Kings owe Kovalchuk his full cap hit regardless of the outcome, and there's clearly no attempt at cap circumvention, it's unlikely the NHL will have any objection. I'm sure the Kings have been in contact with the NHL in advance and wouldn't move forward unless they had Bettman's blessing.