Contract Termination: Ilya Kovalchuk

[kylbaz]

Start career in Atlanta finish with them in Winnipeg. I'd give him a shot. Put him on the powerplay, we have Copp on our second unit for f sake.

 

[LD29]

Winnipeg won't sign him as he would outscore Laine.

 

[inthe6ix]

..and the NHL holiday roster freeze ends at 12:00 AM on December 28.

We should find out where this is headed by tomorrow.

 

[go4hockey]

a coaches nightmare. .5 points a game as a top 6 winger is nothing to be proud of for a 6 million dollar guy. He's probably ignoring the coaches system. I will be surprised if any tea is dumb enough to take a shot on Kovy.

He rarely played in the top 6.

 

[Bfreezy40]

He'd fit good on the Sabres 2nd line and pp unit!

 

[Taylorst]

The GM in LA clearly isn't that smart for going after and Signing ilya,, his history dictated he was a problem , sure in his prime he put up great numbers that was 10 years ago , he also 10 years ago screwed over new jersey , did the kings really think he was going to come in and help their team?

Wasted money and a awful move.

 

[Shnooks]

He'd fit good on the Sabres 2nd line and pp unit!

We need good players, not more bad ones.

 

[Warden of the North]

..and the NHL holiday roster freeze ends at 12:00 AM on December 28.

We should find out where this is headed by tomorrow.

I dont believe that if he wanted to go the KHL next week he could not.

 

[kilowatt]

The GM in LA clearly isn't that smart for going after and Signing ilya,, his history dictated he was a problem , sure in his prime he put up great numbers that was 10 years ago , he also 10 years ago screwed over new jersey , did the kings really think he was going to come in and help their team?

Wasted money and a awful move.

Sure. But there was also a chance that it would work and the Kings gave up zero assets to get him. Kovalchuk was great in the Olympics. I think you just want to take a free shot at the Kings, and that's fine, but the Kings' core was getting older. This was one last push to see if the Kings could create magic before guys like Carter, Brown, and Quick were too old to be more than complementary pieces on a good team. It didn't work. Lots of contracts don't. This is only a hnique situation because Kovalchuk agreed to terminate the contract. There's a lot of money buried in the minors all around the league.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

I thought he would be taken by now, what is going on?

 

[Taylorst]

Sure. But there was also a chance that it would work and the Kings gave up zero assets to get him. Kovalchuk was great in the Olympics. I think you just want to take a free shot at the Kings, and that's fine, but the Kings' core was getting older. This was one last push to see if the Kings could create magic before guys like Carter, Brown, and Quick were too old to be more than complementary pieces on a good team. It didn't work. Lots of contracts don't. This is only a hnique situation because Kovalchuk agreed to terminate the contract. There's a lot of money buried in the minors all around the league.

The kings have been on the decline since 2014 and the team as constructed wasn't anywhere near a cup contender, adding a guy who has been a known problem was foreseeable.

If the kings really thought they had a chance to become a bonafied contender, adding 1 guy over the age of 30 doesn't scream where all in.
If the kings went out and added more pieces you can than make that argument .

From every metric ILYA was the wrong choice to throw money at , and that falls squarely on the teams GM for inking that deal.

 

[Ron ellis]

Some team will take a flier on him. Minimum pay ,free agent at years end

 

[razor8]

I thought he would be taken by now, what is going on?

He probably wants a ridiculous amount of money.

 

[PG Canuck]

He probably wants a ridiculous amount of money.

Doubt it

 

[TrufleShufle]

He probably wants a ridiculous amount of money.

Pretty sure he said he would take min to stay in the NHL.

 

[kp61c]

I thought he would be taken by now, what is going on?

we have run out of idiots wanting o sign him?

 

[razor8]

Pretty sure he said he would take min to stay in the NHL.

He's a commie. They never lie.

 

[kilowatt]

The kings have been on the decline since 2014 and the team as constructed wasn't anywhere near a cup contender, adding a guy who has been a known problem was foreseeable.

And yet they won the cup, so it was very clearly a contender.

If the kings really thought they had a chance to become a bonafied contender, adding 1 guy over the age of 30 doesn't scream where all in.
If the kings went out and added more pieces you can than make that argument .

They only gave up 7 goals with an injury-stricken roster to the western conference champions just weeks prior to the signing. Adding a pure goal scorer and giving up zero assets was the least risky option available. Are the only two possible options “sell everything for a cup” or “sell everything and tank”? It’s almost as if Blake and Robitaille knew this era of the Kings was coming to an end, but figured one last shot - and adding Kovalchuk to boot - was worth the dollar risk at the very least.

From every metric ILYA was the wrong choice to throw money at , and that falls squarely on the teams GM for inking that deal.

In retrospect, yes. It was quite literally the worst possible outcome. At least management recognized it pretty quickly and said, “Well, time to rebuild. We had a good run.”

 

[Coach Parker]

Strange that this is still quiet. Perhaps he is asking for more than league minimum?

 

[I am Canadian]

Leafs might make a little sense. Mikheyev is now effectively out for the season.

Kovalchuk could play 2nd/3rd line and pair with Tavares & 2nd PP unit

 

[LD29]

I think he'll sign early next year. He is probably having a good time in Russia at the moment. Taking a timeout, having a good time with his family while getting an idea how and where to spent the last part of his career.

 

[Toronto makebeleifs]

Leafs might make a little sense. Mikheyev is now effectively out for the season.

Kovalchuk could play 2nd/3rd line and pair with Tavares & 2nd PP unit

Please God no.

 

[mikeyfan]

I would still like the Canes to sign him. Press Williams into a final decision and if he says no, then sign Kovalchuk

 

[peterthegreat12]

Kovalchuk wasn’t good enough to play on any of the Kings lines.....let that sink in.

 

[ViD]

Kovalchuk wasn’t good enough to play on any of the Kings lines.....let that sink in.

He was good enough to be one of their leading scorers still...let that sink in