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Oh that's what Kovalchuk wants? Well he made a commitment to be here, and the franchise was relying on him being a cornerstone for us for the rest of his career. Him not being here has been a big part in us being in the predicament we are now. The Devils should vote no and take every chance they have to screw him and make things difficult for him. Because he did it to us

My problem with Kovy will always be the same: I don't trust him. If he gets off to the same kind of start that he did in 2010-11, I could see him saying screw it, I don't need the NHL, I gave it another try, but it just wasn't meant to be. I'd rather see the Devils bring in someone who they can count on as being more committed. That being said, I would consider bringing Kovy back on a one-year deal, with the understanding that he probably won't be here past the trading deadline...more of a "OK Ilya, tell you what, now you decide that you want to come back to the NHL, fine, but since you have to go through the Devils, you use us to show other NHL teams what you have left, and we'll use the opportunity to try to get more for you than we would right at this moment" scenario. If I thought the Devils had a legitimate shot to make the playoffs next season, then I would feel differently, but it still feels like they're not terribly close, and this team needs assets for the future. I don't see Kovy being much of a positive in the locker room, though there's only five current Devils who were here for Kovy's last season: Zajac, Greene, Josefson, Henrique, and Kinkaid. How much bad blood would there be? Who knows. The above is predicated on the belief that Kovy doesn't have that much trade value at the moment, as it's been a while since he last played in the NHL...of course, if someone offers something that's to Shero's liking right away, then just deal him and be done with him. I can't welcome him back with open arms...I've never judged his reasons for leaving the Devils, but the simple fact is he left, when Lou bent over backwards to keep him. He turned his back on this franchise. So fvck 'im.

This is a no brainier. If he wants to come back on a reasonable enough deal, you do it in a heartbeat. First, he has not declined. Best I can tell, he led the KHL in points this year, and has actually improved on very good past performance. There's no reason he won't age like Jagr, or at least the wheels shouldn't be coming off for at least three or four years. Second, you are getting a forward without giving up an asset that will score at least 25 goals and will improve the power play a lot. If you think the Palmieri trade was a stroke of genius, there's no reason you say no to getting a better player without having to trade the draft picks. Lastly, I enjoy watching exciting players. The Devils could really fvcking use someone like that, if not for all of our sanity.

Ridiculous to say to yourself you wouldn't take a Kovy level talent for literally nothing. He did us a favor by leaving when he did. This team is as untalented as you will find at the NHL level, and to call the pipeline below average is being generous. Worst case, he's most likely worth more at the next trade deadline than he is right now. It would be downright stupid to move his rights over the summer, only to see his value double six months later. That's irresponsible asset management, something this ownership group is not in the business of.

the thought of having him and hall together... just makes me excited in all kinds of ways

I feel bad for Hall though.

Although, since he obviously wants to come back to the NHL, there would be a certain joy in telling him to go screw himself and sending him back to Russia.

You think he's worth that? I think he'd need to prove himself first in this league. I'm not sure any of us know what we're getting. I get he's not the player we need in a rebuild. But I also think this ownership and fanbase want the playoffs and if he can help put some pucks in the net without costing an asset, then they should at least try him out during the season - if we are playoff bound keep him. If we aren't, trade him.

Has to sting. He was there when they were rock bottom for 6 years in what was then a terrible organization and just when he was going to be rewarded with good times gets traded to a team in a rebuild that has a long way to go and no Connor McDavid. Hopefully he has some good karma coming his way, he deserves to win.

Fvck them both.

He's still the best. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hate the Rangers. But I do like watching when Doc is calling the game.

The fact that Bergevin kept his job after the Subban trade was amazing. If he keeps it after that gutless performance against the Rags, then I'm not sure what it takes for him to lose it

Say NO-Valchuk. If this isn't a ploy, just sign and trade. good riddance ... again...

The shorter schedules and less physical style of play probably helped preserve Kovalchuk a bit in Russia. The price should be a 2nd rounder and we should only be trading him to a Western Conference team. I'm not letting him back into the league in 2017 for him to score a bunch of goals against the Devils right away. Having the guy actually back and playing for us would not go over very well. Devils fans have long memories and guys who have wronged us are cold shouldered for a while. It took seemingly forever for Bruce Driver to get back into Devils fans good graces (I still don't think he is fully) I guess though on the plus side those guys can finally pull of the duct tape with "Ryder" in black magic marker on it off their jerseys

Not a big fan of Kovalchuk. Jacques Lemaire did wonders with him turning him into a somewhat reliable 2 way player. I do remember him doing extended shifts. I do remember the Devils passing up good shots to get the puck to Kovalchuk for a not so good shot on the power play. Can he play a 82 game season anymore? I hope it's a ploy to get a big payday for the KHL. The drama we endured from him over 2 summers was too much. To me not worth it unless he is used to get draft picks,

You cant say no... if you can get him you do it. He would be one of our top player right away. He could bring shipachev and Radulov with him... right noe, we have nothimg to attract players to our team. So you need to use everything you have. Getting kovy back and his teammates shipachev gives you a chance to attract others like shattenkirk. You improve your team and you keep you draft pick for the future. if you dont, Hall is as good as gone at the end of his contract.

anyone who thinks he "screwed" the devils needs to put the kool aid down

I don't see how him wanting to come back wont work out to be a net positive one way or another for the team. He screwed NJD over, but in the end it's his life. He made whatever decision he thought was best for him and his family, it wasn't a vendetta against the team (most likely).

Just brutal. And I have zero faith in either Ottawa or Boston

And it better be really damn great compensation

Agreed, unless there's compensation to us that would be beneficial.

Speak of the devil, are you kidding? https://mobile.twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/855966140580941825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhfboards.hockeysfuture.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D2217757%26page%3D20 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They're just not that great of a team... Not to mention Price has been underwhelming. They need Price to be superhuman if they're not gonna score any fvcking goals, which they haven't been doing much of lately. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Doesn't matter really. 2, 4, 5...you can put Montreal on a 10 minute powerplay and they won't score. They have packed it in

Montreal player literally spitting blood out from high stick and the Rags still only get 2 minutes. Typical.

I'm not sure, but I want him on the team.

What about a major shakeup to have a exciting team to watch. We need to trade for a good player with the right age... a galchenyuk kind of trade. Then we need to be all-in for some free agents. If we try to sign a guy alone it might be hard but if we do a deal like suter and parise in minnessota, we might have a chance to land big names. I would try to land Shattenkirk and the radulov, Kovalchuk duo for 5 years. I know it's a longshot dream but hey it could be fun. And we would be an attractive team once again with skilled veteran to play with young guys like Zacha,Mcleod, Quenneville etc. having a top 6 forward group of radulov-Galchenyuk-Kovalchuk hall- henrique/zajac( assuming we trade one of them)-Palmieri We could have 3 good duos and put a zacha and one of 2 of our good young guns. With two veterans works great . Radulov-Zacha-Kovalchuk Hall- Zajac/Henrique-Palmieri Galchenyuk-Mcleod-cammy