Dreger: Ilya Kovalchuk in California; meeting with Kings and Sharks

[Pinkfloyd]

What does that have to do with anything? You just picked an arbitrary number of players and are representing that as a predictive measure of the teams success. How is 3 relevant when about 19 guys play every night? Who has the best 4 player combo? How about 5?

Also, pump the brakes on Kuznetsov. He is now better than any forward on the Sharks?

Kuznetsov is better than any forward on the Sharks except for Joe Thornton.

 

[Boxscore]

Kuznetsov is better than any forward on the Sharks except for Joe Thornton.

Thornton is 872 years old and practically finished. Pavelski is clearly the best forward on the Sharks. And Kuznetsov is close to him and will surpass him soon.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Kuznetsov is better than any forward on the Sharks except for Joe Thornton.

Honestly he's better than Thornton right now. He's not better than prime Thornton, but two bum knees Thornton, definitely.

 

[YP44]

If the Sharks bought out Martin, and Thornton gave them a sweetheart hometown deal, they could conceivably have

Kovi - Couture - Hertl
Kane - Pavelski - Donskoi
Labanc - Thornton - Meier
Boedker - Tierney - Sorensen

Ryan - Burns
Vlasic - Braun
Dillon - Demelo

It'll likely never happen, but if you're the Sharks with a smaller window with some of the vets like Pavelski, Thornton, Burns, Vlasic -- heck even Couture is 29, why wouldn't you roll the dice on a short term deal with Kovalchuk. That would give them top 3-5 offensive depth (Thornton as a 3C, Boedker in the bottom6 with some of the young kids like Meier), a really potent powerplay, and a pretty solid top 6 forward core. Heck their top4 on defense isn't even that bad, all will depend on Ryan's growth.

I actually think Kovi signing with the team is a huge possibility because of the Pete DeBoer. Kovi was a beast under DeBoer, and they had that huge run together.

I fully expect Thornton to sign a discounted deal.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Thornton is 872 years old and practically finished. Pavelski is clearly the best forward on the Sharks. And Kuznetsov is close to him and will surpass him soon.

Before Thornton went down, the only thing that was clear was that Thornton was still the best forward on the Sharks and Thornton has been every bit as good as Kuznetsov and better the two years before that. I don't doubt that Kuznetsov is close and will surpass him soon but he's not better as of yet, imo.

Honestly he's better than Thornton right now. He's not better than prime Thornton, but two bum knees Thornton, definitely.

Two bum knees is putting more onto it than what reality reflects. Thornton's knee was healthy when the other one got injured and he was clearly the best forward on the team at the time. I have no reason to suspect that with more time for rehab and a fresh start next season that he won't be healthy and just as good. If he can be recovered from the other knee with less rehab time last season then more rehab time will probably improve his outlook next season.

 

[Kingsfan1]

Is he meeting with any other teams as well or just Sharks and Kings ?

 

[Little Psycho]

Sharks fans deserve something good. Hope he signs with them.

 

[Little Psycho]

He's going to the highest bidder, just like last time.

Glad it worked out the way it did in 2012. So many Kings fans were bummed out about it and then Stoll took him out in the finals.

 

[BigKing]

Glad it worked out the way it did in 2012. So many Kings fans were bummed out about it and then Stoll took him out in the finals.

He took the money in 2010, but I agree that I'm glad with how 2012 worked out in the end.

I'm more pleased with how Brad Richards chose the Rangers over LA before the 2012 season. Funny how the Kings beat both of the big-name UFAs they just missed out on in Kovalchuk/Richards.

 

[DRL]

Before Thornton went down, the only thing that was clear was that Thornton was still the best forward on the Sharks and Thornton has been every bit as good as Kuznetsov and better the two years before that. I don't doubt that Kuznetsov is close and will surpass him soon but he's not better as of yet, imo.



Two bum knees is putting more onto it than what reality reflects. Thornton's knee was healthy when the other one got injured and he was clearly the best forward on the team at the time. I have no reason to suspect that with more time for rehab and a fresh start next season that he won't be healthy and just as good. If he can be recovered from the other knee with less rehab time last season then more rehab time will probably improve his outlook next season.

Kuznetsov would easily be the best forward on the sharks and it’s not even close. He dominated the playoffs like few before him have. And was off a rather strong regular season as well

 

[Sota Popinski]

The best 4 or 5 player combo would still go to Washington quite easily. Washington’s best players are much better than San Jose’s. You need elite superstars playing at that level in order to win. The Sharks don’t have a single forward at Ovechkin or Kuznetsov’s level at this point and they sure as hell don’t have the defense to make up for that.

Yeah, gonna disagree there. And your statement that Carlson is close to Burns is laughable. Carlson had a great year this year. Before that he had scored 50 points once. He is a negative possession player over his career. This is the first year his possession numbers have been positive relative to his teammates since 2011. He has had one year where he got Norris votes. Burns won the Norris last year. Came in 3rd the year before that. Carlson is not on that level.

Yes, Kuznetsov is better than any forward on the Sharks. Is that a serious question? He had 83 points in the regular season this year. No Shark besides 39 year old Joe Thornton has ever scored 80 points in their career. Then, Kuznetsov had 32 points in the playoffs. 115 points in 103 games, regular season + playoffs. There is no forward on the San Jose Sharks even remotely capable of reaching that level in 2019.

And disagree here too. Logan Couture doesn't have the regular season scoring numbers Kuzy does, but he also doesn't have the greatest goal scorer in the league on his line either. Last year, when Kuzy wasn't on Ovi's line. He scored 59. Not bad, but there are players on the Sharks that can do that. Couture's playoff numbers are better than Kuzy's and I would say Couture is a better defender as well. I have no problem with someone saying Kuzy might be better than Couture, but when you say it isn't even close, you just come off as a blowhard. This happens every year where a player performs well in the playoffs and then they get gassed up to epic proportions.

 

[Sota Popinski]

Kuznetsov would easily be the best forward on the sharks and it’s not even close. He dominated the playoffs like few before him have. And was off a rather strong regular season as well

Couture dominated the playoffs pretty much like that in 2016. To me, it is pretty close.

 

[Sota Popinski]

Kuznetsov is better than any forward on the Sharks except for Joe Thornton.

Disagree with both parts of that statement.

 

[kingsfan28]

He took the money in 2010, but I agree that I'm glad with how 2012 worked out in the end.

I'm more pleased with how Brad Richards chose the Rangers over LA before the 2012 season. Funny how the Kings beat both of the big-name UFAs they just missed out on in Kovalchuk/Richards.

I thought about this a few times:
If we got Richards, then no Carter and Jack Johnson might've still been a King. Would Richards [Brad] still have us helped win the cup? We may have end up buying both of the Richards out by 2016.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[hockeykicker]

Detroit?

 

[Brando]

Detroit?

I don't understand this for Detroit.

 

[torniojaws]

I doubt he would join Detroit unless he gets 4 x 15M from them

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

What the hell is Detroit doing

 

[member 157595]

What the hell is Detroit doing

I get the concept of having veterans on a rebuilding team to help out the youth; in fact, I'm a big fan of that concept.

The thing is, I'm not sure if that's actually Ken Holland's mindset, or is it instead that he thinks Detroit can make the playoffs next season.

 

[Kranix]

Kenny Holland will always try to make the playoffs

 

[member 157595]

Kenny Holland will always try to make the playoffs

Maybe so, but Detroit squeaking into a wild-card spot next year only to be immediately steamrolled would be almost hilariously counterproductive given the make-up of their team.

 

[DRW204]

isn't he to young for detroit?

 

[Royale With Cheese]

So he's only interested in winning, hey? Not the cash? I can tell.

Some team is gonna overpay big time for this guy.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

I get the concept of having veterans on a rebuilding team to help out the youth; in fact, I'm a big fan of that concept.

The thing is, I'm not sure if that's actually Ken Holland's mindset, or is it instead that he thinks Detroit can make the playoffs next season.

That team is overflowing with (overpaid) veterans. There's no way Holland is targeting Kovalchuk for his "veteran presence."

Which brings me back to my original statement... what is Detroit doing? Kovalchuk doesn't do much at all to make Detroit a playoff contender next year.