Ilya Kovalchuck

[malkinfan]

Noticed he made a number of great set-ups that his teammates failed to finish on. IDK if he found chemistry with someone I think his #s would be better and people would generally have a better opinion of him.

 

[NJDevilsZG]

Also, all you guys making excuses for the guy are delusional. It's 100% apparent he's a fraction of the player he was for the Devils in 2012. Not even a question about that imo.

Exactly.
Watched him every single game while he was with Devils, even after lockout some things were pretty obvious. Add everything I've seen from him in KHL - and I stand by the stuff I said here many months ago : he is damaged goods. Unfortunatelly.

 

[malkinfan]

Exactly.
Watched him every single game while he was with Devils, even after lockout some things were pretty obvious. Add everything I've seen from him in KHL - and I stand by the stuff I said here many months ago : he is damaged goods. Unfortunatelly.

I disagree. During the lockout he was still one of the best players in the world playing along side Tarasenko. When he returned to NJ he even admitted he was disinterested after his great experience with SKA.... Problem is when he went back to SKA to look for what he left behind, it had gone. That contributes to a lot of peoples perception towards him. I think he will be better served if Radulov or some other high profile player comes to town. If only tank could come back, if only.
Either way, I don't think we've seen the end of the dominant Kovy that we once knew.

 

[Raptor1990]

Nothing gainst Kovalchoke but he will continue to strugle even more until he ends his hockey career at 35-37
No matter how many $$$ SKA has, chance for winning gagarin cupe is low even for next 10 years.