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So Apparently The Rumor Is Kovy Could Be Coming Back


TheMazz

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I guess the big difference now is that the Devils have all of the bargaining power (this is assuming the report that the Devils exclusively control his ability to come back after a year).

If he really felt going to the KHL was a mistake and wants back in to the NHL while he still has some speed left in him, the Devils could bring him back on relatively reasonable terms.

This really seems like click bait for Costa, but again the Kovy experience just gets weirder and weirder.

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Dacosta actually devoted two tweets to this. So he's pretty firm about it.

 

But I have a hard time believing it. We need to hear from some of the truly connected NHL guys first.

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although I'm sure this is no truth behind this rumor, you would be an idiot not welcome him back to this team over hurt feelings.

 

No, we'd be idiots to welcome him back because he's not the Kovy of old.  When he's not scoring nearly 40 goals per season, the warts in his game (which he did work on while he was here, with some success) will become that much more apparent.

 

Tri has posted in great detail why he's really not that good...even in 2011-12, when we'd all agree that he was good, he needed a hell of a lot of minutes to get his numbers.  I think if he came back, there would be a lot of disappointment...and as we've seen in the past, Kovy is not exactly thick-skinned.  I could see him struggling for 40-50 games (think 12 goals and a lot of defensive gaffes), then saying "the hell with this!"

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He fvcked us over 

 

I understand this line of thinking, but at the same time I think it's too easy to think this way. It's easy to say he screwed us over, but at the same time we've gotten the pick we were to lose returned (albeit lower) and the fine has been cut in half. The biggest problem Kovy caused IMO is that his being signed could've potentially cost us Parise, but even there there's plenty of conjecture stating that his agents talked him into going to FA and its also possible he (Parise) wanted to leave + the contract was offered to Kovy in the first place so IMO that blame falls more to management.

 

The fact is we don't really know anything about the circumstances surrounding Kovalchuk. Is it that big of a stretch to think that Lou went to him and tossed the idea of Russia around to get out from under the contract? A buyout would've been ridiculously costly and its not a longshot to think that trading that contract would've been extremely hard. It's quite possible Kovalchuk's contract was a sticking point in respect to new ownership and we certainly got new ownership shortly after Kovy left. It almost seems too perfect. Lou did not give up the pick the year we took Matteau for a reason, its quite possible he knew that he was going to be able to get out of the jam even then or at least saw a way to get out of it.

 

I don't think anything is clear cut in this story and we may never know what really caused it all to happen. I certainly don't have a high opinion of Kovy simply because that's the natural/kneejerk reaction I have as a fan of this team, but at the same time I find it hard to believe that the story we've been given is wholly true. 

 

From the perspective of just hockey, I'm absolutely fine with Kovy returning provided (as with almost any player) the price and terms are right. 

Edited by ghdi
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This would be Lou going to the Ex Devil well again, another thing that I'd hoped he'd be over at this point. No Kovalchuk, no Gionta...Stastny please

 

If by the end of the summer we are left with Kovy and Brian Gionta signed, Cory without an extension and no Stastny I think my head will explode like that guy in Scanners.

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Forgetting the hypotheticals...just addressing the legitimacy of the rumour:

 

This guy says he has a credible source in NJ. Has he ever reported any accurate Devils rumours let alone inaccurate Devils rumours. Any leaks about deals or contracts have always come from a players agent. If Lou was even in discussions with Kovalchuk and Grossman, the only one from NJ who probably knows about the talks is Lou himself.

 

So I am going with 100% bullsheeeeeet.

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No, we'd be idiots to welcome him back because he's not the Kovy of old.  When he's not scoring nearly 40 goals per season, the warts in his game (which he did work on while he was here, with some success) will become that much more apparent.

 

Tri has posted in great detail why he's really not that good...even in 2011-12, when we'd all agree that he was good, he needed a hell of a lot of minutes to get his numbers.  I think if he came back, there would be a lot of disappointment...and as we've seen in the past, Kovy is not exactly thick-skinned.  I could see him struggling for 40-50 games (think 12 goals and a lot of defensive gaffes), then saying "the hell with this!"

Have to consider the term, CR. I think if he comes back, it would be to a modest "show me" contract. No one is going to feel safe giving him over five years with his injuries let alone the departure threat. 

 

If Kovalchuk does want to come back, I could see a case where the league allows him to solely based on showing that the KHL is a second rate league. It could really become an example of "what not to do". While many might be pissed at him for leaving, him wanting to come back would be very good for the NHL in the NHL-KHL pr battle.

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Forgetting the hypotheticals...just addressing the legitimacy of the rumour:

 

This guy says he has a credible source in NJ. Has he ever reported any accurate Devils rumours let alone inaccurate Devils rumours. Any leaks about deals or contracts have always come from a players agent. If Lou was even in discussions with Kovalchuk and Grossman, the only one from NJ who probably knows about the talks is Lou himself.

 

So I am going with 100% bullsheeeeeet.

 

He could be hearing it from a loose-lipped contact from Russia. That's where all the Kovalchuk nonsense started.

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 While many might be pissed at him for leaving, him wanting to come back would be very good for the NHL in the NHL-KHL pr battle.

 

This is actually a good point, but TG just said that if he wanted to come back this coming season, all 30 teams would unanimously need to OK it. I cannot see every team in the league voting for it regardless of the PR battle. I don't see Snider or Dolan siding with the Devils. 

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This is actually a good point, but TG just said that if he wanted to come back this coming season, all 30 teams would unanimously need to OK it. I cannot see every team in the league voting for it regardless of the PR battle. I don't see Snider or Dolan siding with the Devils. 

 

it's a two way street though. If they block the devils, sometime in the future the devils may block them from acquiring, or reacquiring a player overseas that they like.

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At the least, I enjoy the speculation that goes into these things. First it the Kovalchuk the villain, but imagine if he got us out of that contract, signed here for 5 years or so, and was a productive player. Kovalchuk the hero. I understand just how far fetched this is, but part of me does hope it's true. I don't hate Kovalchuk the same way I hate Parise.

Or maybe I'm just thinking like a 16 year old girl, hoping that senior in high school comes back and really does love her like he said but in reality it was nothing more than a hit it and quit it

Feel the same

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TG says the 30-team approval rule is still in effect. So whatever.

 

I take Kovalchuk because despite whatever faults he has, he can still be a productive player for us. The question is for how much. I wouldn't go more than 5/6 M for a short term and he can get double that in the KHL. So what's the incentive for him to leave the K?

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Forgetting the hypotheticals...just addressing the legitimacy of the rumour:

 

This guy says he has a credible source in NJ. Has he ever reported any accurate Devils rumours let alone inaccurate Devils rumours. Any leaks about deals or contracts have always come from a players agent. If Lou was even in discussions with Kovalchuk and Grossman, the only one from NJ who probably knows about the talks is Lou himself.

 

So I am going with 100% bullsheeeeeet.

 

It can be interpreted both ways.  Someone who's not in the business of reporting rumors, might have something or at least believes there's something, (compare with hockeyyinsiderr who blatantly makes everything up and in a verifiable way).

 

I follow him on twitter and used to listen to his radio show.  I don't recall him ever reporting trade rumors, although he would talk about sports world gossip, one example I can think of is that Reggie Jackson is gay.  But in the Reggie Jackson claim, he at least named the source that told him that.  But otherwise, he definitely is inclined to conspiratorial thinking, once spending about 10 to 15 minutes of his radio show talking about the old claim that Paul McCartney died around the time of Sergeant Peppers and that the Beatles went on with an impersonator.  

 

My inclination right now is that this is all click bait and an attempt to get people to sign up for the $75 per year subscription fee for his new radio show.  If he gets twenty people to sign up for his show, that's  $1500 of virtually total profit for 20 seconds of work.   

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TG says the 30-team approval rule is still in effect. So whatever.

 

I take Kovalchuk because despite whatever faults he has, he can still be a productive player for us. The question is for how much. I wouldn't go more than 5/6 M for a short term and he can get double that in the KHL. So what's the incentive for him to leave the K?

 

Other reports are that the 30 team approval rule goes away in July.  At the time, I also recall a claim that he had to sit out a year from playing hockey at all before he could come back within five years, and that the Devils would control his rights.  No clear answers it appears.

 

If he came back, it would be on terms for someone at his age who you could expect to get 60 points per year.  And probably even less considering that the Devils would have all the bargaining power.

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It can be interpreted both ways.  Someone who's not in the business of reporting rumors, might have something or at least believes there's something, (compare with hockeyyinsiderr who blatantly makes everything up and in a verifiable way).

 

I follow him on twitter and used to listen to his radio show.  I don't recall him ever reporting trade rumors, although he would talk about sports world gossip, one example I can think of is that Reggie Jackson is gay.  But in the Reggie Jackson claim, he at least named the source that told him that.  But otherwise, he definitely is inclined to conspiratorial thinking, once spending about 10 to 15 minutes of his radio show talking about the old claim that Paul McCartney died around the time of Sergeant Peppers and that the Beatles went on with an impersonator.  

 

My inclination right now is that this is all click bait and an attempt to get people to sign up for the $75 per year subscription fee for his new radio show.  If he gets twenty people to sign up for his show, that's  $1500 of virtually total profit for 20 seconds of work.   

 

'Is Reggie Jackson gay' This is actually radio discussion? This is something people care to discuss. This is something he feels needs to be brought to the public light? What a fvcking moron.

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'Is Reggie Jackson gay' This is actually radio discussion? This is something people care to discuss. This is something he feels needs to be brought to the public light? What a fvcking moron.

 

Just to clarify, it was around the time that there were reports in the press about several NFL players being gay, or something like that, so he didn't just bring it up out of nowhere, and it really wasn't gratuitous.  Whatever the case though, gay pro athletes are definitely something that people are interested in, as evidenced by Michael Sam and Jason Collins.  There's also as much gossip with respect to pro sports as there is with Holywood, as TMZ started a whole website just to sports world gossip. 

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