Confirmed with Link: Kings announce signing kovalchuk to 3 year contract.

[regulate]

Then Blake has about 5 days to trade him before he loses all value. Some team out there will ship over a 4th or 5th to get him.

He has already lost his value. Any GM in the league can see the Kings are up against the CAP just by opening up CapFriendly. They know Blake is unlikely to QO him, so if they want him, they can sign him on July 1st as a UFA on likely better financial terms since his value has decreased somewhat. Why would they trade an asset when if they are interested they can have him without giving up any?

 

[KingsFan7824]

Then Blake has about 5 days to trade him before he loses all value. Some team out there will ship over a 4th or 5th to get him.

Unless someone wants him specifically, there's no reason to think Blake will be able to trade his rights.

 

[funky]

We still have 3 mil left to play with this year barring trades. We have a decent looking roster and still room for improvements. So far so good this offseason. I love Dion but he is the one guy I would be pro active with and see if a team would be interested in him if we retained 1.25 mil. Dion at a 4 mil a year cap hit may interest some team.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Anyone nervous about this deal? Over 6 million for a 35 year old? The Gaborik contract was an anchor at 4-5 million and he was only one year older than Kovy. I get we haven’t seen Kovy in the NHL in a few years and Gaborik has gone down hill but still...

 

[funky]

I would imagine everyone including our brass is nervous to some extent. I guess the next three years will tell the true tale. Lets hope for the best. One nice thing is we had a 35 year old Gaborik in a 45 year old body. It sounds like we are getting a 35 year old Kovy in a 30 year old body.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I posted this before, but here's a list of players aged 35 or older who have scored 20+ goals over the past five seasons,
Player Season Finder | Hockey-Reference.com

Given Kovalchuk's pedigree, I don't think he's going to struggle to score 20 goals, which I know we're all used to seeing happen with every Kings winger. We're not used to seeing wingers score 30+ goals on this team, so I get the trepidation.

But seeing what Kopitar was able to do this season, rejuvenating Dustin Brown's career and his left wing being a rookie who scored 9 goals and 25 points, I don't think Kovalchuk's age is anything of concern. The guy is fit. His hands are still there, and he's not skating like Iginla or Lecavalier on their last legs.

 

[Statto]

Look. I'm all for celebrating our newest King and having some renewed hope in the team.

But ignoring that he walked out on a signed contract and left the devils twisting in the wind is not something I'm willing to forget. I think how you carry yourself and honoring your agreements is a big part of being a successful person. This is the kind of thing im referring to when I mention character flaws, not points or his performance in the 2012 playoffs.

Bah, nobody seems to care. Whatever.

Given the financial mess NJ were in, it could be viewed as mutually beneficial. I’ve read that NJ were ok with it, I don’t know If that is true but it certainly helped with selling the team as his deal was just hitting the max cash payments that were due, IIRC.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Also look at games played, Kovalchuk has been very durable compared to Gaborik.

Gaborik - 17 years experience/1035 games played.
Kovalchuk - 11 years experience/816 games played.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

He has already lost his value. Any GM in the league can see the Kings are up against the CAP just by opening up CapFriendly. They know Blake is unlikely to QO him, so if they want him, they can sign him on July 1st as a UFA on likely better financial terms since his value has decreased somewhat. Why would they trade an asset when if they are interested they can have him without giving up any?

Same reason a couple pending UFA's get traded. Someone might want early negotiation rights? Rieder isn't that great but he's still young. Someone might take a chance on it. And then someone else will own his RFA rights where they'll get compensation if he chooses not to sign with them and they qualify him.

 

[Reaper45]

They're for sure no going to offer him is qualifying offer but I think they still sign him, just for considerably less.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Anyone nervous about this deal? Over 6 million for a 35 year old? The Gaborik contract was an anchor at 4-5 million and he was only one year older than Kovy. I get we haven’t seen Kovy in the NHL in a few years and Gaborik has gone down hill but still...

In 2-3 years we'll have an inevitable rebuild. If it doesn't work out oh well, we tried.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Anyone nervous about this deal? Over 6 million for a 35 year old? The Gaborik contract was an anchor at 4-5 million and he was only one year older than Kovy. I get we haven’t seen Kovy in the NHL in a few years and Gaborik has gone down hill but still...

Nah. Kovalchuk has been far more durable than Gaborik over the years. His two best seasons in the KHL were 16/17 and 17/18. Well over a point per game.

Judging by how elite players’ production tends to translate from KHL to NHL, we should be expecting AT LEAST 25 goals and 60 points from Kovalchuk.

 

[Rolo]

If Kopitar keeps up 85% of his play (and becomes a 80pt player next year), no reason to believe Kovalchuk can put ~70pts, if Dustin Brown could get 60...

 

[Johnny Utah]

Can we really compare stats from a league that Nigel Dawes is a leading scorer.

FYI - funny facts - on Nigel’s team this past year was Matt Fratin, Linden Vey and Kevin Dallman.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Can we really compare stats from a league that Nigel Dawes is a leading scorer.

FYI - funny facts - on Nigel’s team this past year was Matt Fratin, Linden Vey and Kevin Dallman.

Yes, we can compare stats. Panarin, Radulov, and Jagr all saw stat decreases of roughly 15% when moving from the KHL back to the NHL.

There’s no reason to believe Kovalchuk won’t follow suit. He has been well over a point per game in the KHL.

 

[kingsfan28]

That’s so hard to say, though. If Kovalchuk is a King in 10/11, do we ever fire Terry Murray a year later? Do we beat the Sharks in 2011? Lombardi still probably goes after Richards, but likely not Carter.

Really tough to say.

I thought about this too. Do we still win the 2 Cups if Kovy signed with the Kings? By not signing him could've been the best thing that ever happened.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yes, we can compare stats. Panarin, Radulov, and Jagr all saw stat decreases of roughly 15% when moving from the KHL back to the NHL.

There’s no reason to believe Kovalchuk won’t follow suit. He has been well over a point per game in the KHL.

I mean we can even extrapolate his NHL stats, too. Even if he saw a production drop to merely 60% of his prime, he'd be a 25 goal, 55 point player. That's why I think those expectations are reasonable and anything else is gravy.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Can we really compare stats from a league that Nigel Dawes is a leading scorer.

FYI - funny facts - on Nigel’s team this past year was Matt Fratin, Linden Vey and Kevin Dallman.

Kovalchuk chose to play in the KHL, those players are clinging to career survival.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I mean we can even extrapolate his NHL stats, too. Even if he saw a production drop to merely 60% of his prime, he'd be a 25 goal, 55 point player. That's why I think those expectations are reasonable and anything else is gravy.

Agreed. If Kovalchuk is healthy, he will produce. It won’t be a Gaborik situation where he’s “healthy” but a shell of what he used to be.

 

[123slam]

Forgot how big Kovy is. Him and Kopi out there together is something I'm really excited to see. They can really be a force

 

[The Butcher]

Given the financial mess NJ were in, it could be viewed as mutually beneficial. I’ve read that NJ were ok with it, I don’t know If that is true but it certainly helped with selling the team as his deal was just hitting the max cash payments that were due, IIRC.

It's certainly not true.

 

[KopitarFAN]

FWIW, he played about ~90% of the regular season games in the KHL over the last 5 seasons.

 

[BigKing]

It's certainly not true.

NJ was actually ok with it due to the financial mess they were in and how it made a sale easier with the contract off the books.

Teammates are probably a different story, but ownership liked it.

 

[KingsHockey24]

If Voynov comes back do we have to give him a new contract?

If so can't we just offer him 2 years/2M and say take it or leave it?

 

[KopitarFAN]

If Voynov comes back do we have to give him a new contract?

If so can't we just offer him 2 years/2M and say take it or leave it?

I mean they do hold all of the cards as far as his rights (in the event that he is reinstated), but it would be kind of a dick move to say "you're gonna play here or nowhere" unless they really want him, if they don't, they can just trade his rights to the east (Buffalo or something) and not deal with him.