Because people in Kovar's situation handcuff the team. It's an NHL regular or nothing -- that's pretty difficult for a player who has to transition from a completely different style of play and from another country. He needs 'developing' and it's known he won't go to the league created for development. So the other option is signing him and keeping him in the press box for the majority of the year and then expecting him to perform in spot duty. That isn't an equal situation to developing a player who's in it for the long haul. And it's probably why outside of guys like Panarin, we don't see a lot of these KHL transitions. It doesn't leave many options for the team.
Yes, there will be times this year that we will be thin at C due to injuries, but that doesn't necessarily change the decision at the point in time after training camp. With finite roster spots, it's revisionist to say we keep a spare transitioning center on our team for the unknown timing of when we could be thin at center. Which, to point out, isn't even right now since it looks like Cizikas will probably only miss one game.
Gionta is in there to do literally nothing else but not **** up. I don't want any of our prospects in that spot. I'd rather a guy who grabs his lunch pail, puts in effort, follows orders, and then punches out. When Bellows cracks the line up, I want him pushing play and gaining confidence to take risks.