Value of: Kovalchuk confirms NHL return for next season-plans to play 5-6 more years

[The Devil In I]

So much unwarranted hate. Strange. Nyr fans don't see anything wrong with what vesey did but laugh at kovy. I'm sure devils fans are happy butcher ditched his agreement but they won't mention that.

He is gonna be a good player for whatever team welcomes him.

What agreement did Butcher, or Vesey for that matter, ditch? They were drafted by a team and chose not to sign with that team. Kovalchuk chose to sign the remainder of his career to NJ and bailed. Complete false equivalence.

 

[jw2]

What agreement did Butcher, or Vesey for that matter, ditch? They were drafted by a team and chose not to sign with that team. Kovalchuk chose to sign the remainder of his career to NJ and bailed. Complete false equivalence.

Isn't this best for all sides, though?

 

[My3Sons]

He will demand the moon but it will be interesting to see if a team commits to him beyond a one or two year deal at a slightly higher AAV than a B+ UFA. If he has to sign for say 2 years at 5.5 per will he do that?

 

[The Devil In I]

Isn't this best for all sides, though?

I think you're referring to Kovalchuk leaving there - yes and no. At the time he chose to leave, yes because the Devils owner was looking to sell the team and not having such a big financial obligation makes the team more attractive to buy. But, to get to the point that they signed Kovalchuk they may have made some moves that they otherwise would not have made in order to free up the money to sign him. Granted this part is a hypothetical, but maybe Parise would have been re-signed before he reached UFA if they didn't have to think about Kovalchuk's status. The whole thing with Kovalchuk really set the Devils back, and it wasn't just losing him as a player.

 

[Tretyak 20]

I think you're referring to Kovalchuk leaving there - yes and no. At the time he chose to leave, yes because the Devils owner was looking to sell the team and not having such a big financial obligation makes the team more attractive to buy. But, to get to the point that they signed Kovalchuk they may have made some moves that they otherwise would not have made in order to free up the money to sign him. Granted this part is a hypothetical, but maybe Parise would have been re-signed before he reached UFA if they didn't have to think about Kovalchuk's status. The whole thing with Kovalchuk really set the Devils back, and it wasn't just losing him as a player.

Losing Parise was a godsend! He's a shell of the player he used to be, and that contract has got to be one of the worst in the NHL.

Those two couldn't get it done in 2012, but I have a feeling Hall and Hischier will get the job done when it's their turn.

 

[LeapOnOver]

If that's the case, you don't make your free agent decision turn into "days of our lives 2.0" by taking your sweet time to extract every single penny you can out of a 17 year deal.

If that was the case and he'd have his family's best interest, he wouldn't of jerked the Devils and the Kings, he would've accepted a "normal" contract (length wise) and moved on once his contract was over.

I'm glad he's gone and I couldn't care less if he were to come back since I know he won't be on my team. Anyways, we got a hybrid version of Parise and Kovalchuk in Taylor Hall and that's just fine by me.

Right because every player who has their family's best interests in mind would turn down contracts to make less money because he's worried about a soap opera? What bizarro world do you come from? He signed a long term contract....1 year in he started worrying about his family noticing that they may not be happy in America (New Jersey most likely) and thought it was best to make the move back to Russia after giving them a couple more seasons to see if they could adjust.

Try to spin it any way you want but dem da facts.

 

[TorontoTrades]

He will demand the moon but it will be interesting to see if a team commits to him beyond a one or two year deal at a slightly higher AAV than a B+ UFA. If he has to sign for say 2 years at 5.5 per will he do that?

That's the kind of deal I would have in mind from a Leafs point of view.

Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Kovalchuk - Nylander - Kapanen
Marleau - Kadri - Brown

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

colorado is going to have boats of cash to spend this summer to get to the cap, although i wonder if its worth it.

wonder what # he'd take for a 1 year, 6.5?

 

[Alluckks]

Rangers, 2 years at 5 million per year

 

[FrolikFan67]

panthers were in on him in the offseason, i suspect if they cant get pacioretty theyll go after kovy. and that way you save whatever assets it takes to get patches. depending on what the ask is from montreal. but id do 3yrs at 5.5per easy

 

[Pens x]

could see him go to Dallas on a 1-2 year deal with a lower salary. Reunites with Radulov, $$ stretches further thanks to Texas tax laws, contender...

All true except for that last part, they’ve been more of a bubble playoff team at best recently.

 

[My3Sons]

Rangers, 2 years at 5 million per year

If that is in line with the other offers he gets this summer I would expect him to sign with the Rangers. The only issue is whether a team offers a third year which might sway him.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

Isn't this best for all sides, though?

On one hand we got out of paying him for 15 years. On the other hand we had some pretty stiff penalties to pay because of the dumb shit rejected contract the previous owner made Lou try to pull off. A top ten draft pick turned into the 30th OA, 3 million in cash, and we still have 250k per year against the cap because of his retirement. All for 1 Stanley Cup run, which was great, but the team was left pretty crippled for years after.

 

[SEALBound]

If you watched the sub-AHL level tournament known as the Olympics, you will know that Kovy is done.

 

[These Are The Days]

Dis guy gon' cost a pretty penny. Like real pretty. A team better be ready to fork over $7 million because I think he'll stay in Russia if he gets any less and that'll be the last we ever hear of Kovalchuk trying to come back

 

[boompuffboom]

can't believe he is already 35.... time flies!

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

I would be scared to give him more than 2 years

 

[Uncle Dru]

On one hand we got out of paying him for 15 years. On the other hand we had some pretty stiff penalties to pay because of the dumb **** rejected contract the previous owner made Lou try to pull off. A top ten draft pick turned into the 30th OA, 3 million in cash, and we still have 250k per year against the cap because of his retirement. All for 1 Stanley Cup run, which was great, but the team was left pretty crippled for years after.

I have no love for the Devils, but I never understood the whole Devils lucked out when Kovalchuk retired.. Aside from the penalties, they lost one of the most dynamic players in the NHL a the time of his departure. Sure, they spare the later years but players of his stature are far and few.

 

[Boud]

You think Radulov alone lifted Montreal from garbage to division winners?

Who said that?

Doesn't change the fact that he was their best and most talented forward, and by far the hardest working + talent combo they had.

(This is something you don't just let go)

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

Right because every player who has their family's best interests in mind would turn down contracts to make less money because he's worried about a soap opera? What bizarro world do you come from? He signed a long term contract....1 year in he started worrying about his family noticing that they may not be happy in America (New Jersey most likely) and thought it was best to make the move back to Russia after giving them a couple more seasons to see if they could adjust.

Try to spin it any way you want but dem da facts.

Poor Kovalchuk, he was probably feeding his family soap bars for souper he was so tight on cash.

There's a difference between making less money and trying to milk someone for their last penny. He milked, got the same deal for way less term and bolted to Siberia and now we're making him the humanitarian of the year?

And let me get this straight, 4 years later, his family is talking about wanting to come back to NA? Wow, talk about not knowing what you want.

You can't have it both ways. You're either out for cash or you're a family man. He's probably a family but his #1 interest is cash.

Fin.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

That makes it 5-6 more contracts by my math....

 

[LeapOnOver]

Poor Kovalchuk, he was probably feeding his family soap bars for souper he was so tight on cash.

There's a difference between making less money and trying to milk someone for their last penny. He milked, got the same deal for way less term and bolted to Siberia and now we're making him the humanitarian of the year?

And let me get this straight, 4 years later, his family is talking about wanting to come back to NA? Wow, talk about not knowing what you want.

You can't have it both ways. You're either out for cash or you're a family man. He's probably a family but his #1 interest is cash.

Fin.

Actually you can have it both ways. Maybe you can link the rule book that says you can't have it both ways.

Obviously you have never lived abroad and are as ethnocentric as it comes. I am an American living in Korea which is an excellent booming country with very little of the things that is making America a craphole country. However, it doesn't stop me from missing the comforts of home. So while you can sit there and make some stupid comment about Siberia like it is a wasteland because you probably don't even leave the basement you live in, it doesn't mean that the comforts that he grew up on are not valuable and preferred to him. America is a cesspool right now and now that I live abroad I can't help but laugh at the mindset of Americans who still think that their country is better than everyone else's.

As far as wanting to come back, his kids are older now. It would make more sense to come back now than trying to raise young children abroad. There is a rhyme and reason to it, you just can't get past your own internal biases to see it.

 

[Ciao]

I'm guessing he wants a 5-6 year post-retirement over age-35 contract at a fairly large AAV.

Good luck to him with that.

And good luck to any team that signs him to that type of contract.

 

[Ciao]

Other factors are a strong playoff team and he might want to join to play with some other Russian NHL star this time.

Apparently he said something along the lines that money is not why he is coming back. He wants to win the cup (source: Finnish media).

You can probably narrow the list of teams he would join to a pretty low number if the factors I mentioned above are what he is after or is willing to do.

I'm going to guess that he takes a big salary cut and goes to some already super stacked team. For example he could take a 50% cut of his worth and go to Pittsburgh to join Malkin. With 3.5-4mil salary they can make cap space for him right?

That would surprise me.

I think it's all about the money.

 

[Ciao]

It is a good league that plays a very different style, but you can make more money in the NHL.

KHL is also economically unsustainable because it is mostly a hobby and political tool for filthy rich oligarchs who do not care much about making a profit.

Kovalchuk went from the Devils to the KHL before international sanctions devalued the ruble.

Then, he could make as much or more in the KHL as he made in the NHL.

Now, he's coming back for some more ice cream.