Another Chump Move by Kovalchuk

[msweet]

If Ilya Kovalchuk does return to play in the NHL again some day, he can expect to be showered with boos from more than just Devils fans in New Jersey.

All of Canada would surely have something to say to the talented winger now that he has officially been cited as the reason Russian players deliberately left the ice at the conclusion of the 2015 world championships in Prague before Canada's national anthem was played to celebrate that country's gold medal victory.

 

After studying video evidence, the IIHF said Kovalchuk gave an "unmistakable head gesture" as a signal for teammates to skate off the ice early after receiving their silver medals. Most of the Russian players did not stay to hear the Canadian anthem and watch the flags of the three medallist countries being raised.

 

http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2015/08/another_blow_to_former_devils_winger_ilya_kovalchu.html

[cgosha21]

Funny...... But let's be honest here if he came back and signed with the Devils you would cheer!  You may say no but if he put up 30+ goals and put the Devils back into a playoff spot you would cheer.  You may still say no, but if his return results into better players coming in over the next few years & some how the Devils get back to the glory days and win a cup with Ilya (speculation here) you will cheer.

 

My point is whatever team he comes to Devils, Maple Leafs, whoever those fans will cheer for him.

 

My personal feeling is that when he does return don't be surprised if he signs with the Maple Leafs

[eldon]

That would be funny if he signed with the Leafs.  Hearing Cherry "analyze" him on a regular basis.  As for the fine from the IIHF, it certainly isn't substantial, and I'd think if the same thing happened again, Russia, not finishing first, they'd probably gladly pay another fine than to not watch Canada, or the US raise another flag.

I still think Kovy "retiring" was a back-room agreement in order for VBK to sell, and the new owners to buy the team, and not have to pay someone during the meat of that contract. 

[devils102]

I remember this when it happened. At the time, I didn't think anything would come of it. Glad they got fined.

 

Thumbs up to Ovechkin and the handful of other Russians who made a point of staying on the ice.

[NJDevs26]

Why would he sign with the Leafs, because of Lou?  He stabbed Lou in the back more or less, and don't give me that nonsense about how it was a mutual decision for him to walk away, there's no way Lou wanted his leading scorer to go to Russia for no compensation with new ownership coming in.  Lou lost his job cause of the last two years.

[2ELIAS6]

Why would he sign with the Leafs, because of Lou?  He stabbed Lou in the back more or less, and don't give me that nonsense about how it was a mutual decision for him to walk away, there's no way Lou wanted his leading scorer to go to Russia for no compensation with new ownership coming in.  Lou lost his job cause of the last two years.

i feel like this can honestly really be looked at both ways, i dont think it was a completely mutual decision because if kovy was to have come out a couple weeks earlier and stated he was leaving lou could have atleast tried to fill the hole he was leaving a little bit through FA. There was no one left after this was made public. No one will ever know the truth behind what happened but i feel that we are now all assured he will never be back playing for this team again now that all of the management staff has changed.

[Zubie#8]

Kovy gonna Kovy. He is never boring I will give him that. I do miss him, not that contract though.

[DJ Eco]

Why would he sign with the Leafs, because of Lou?  He stabbed Lou in the back more or less, and don't give me that nonsense about how it was a mutual decision for him to walk away, there's no way Lou wanted his leading scorer to go to Russia for no compensation with new ownership coming in.  Lou lost his job cause of the last two years.

 

Do you really think it's just coincidence that the Kovy retirement (our most expensive, most high profile signing in history) happens less than a month before the biggest most high sale of ownership in our franchise's history?

[DevsMan84]

Do you really think it's just coincidence that the Kovy retirement (our most expensive, most high profile signing in history) happens less than a month before the biggest most high sale of ownership in our franchise's history?

 

At the time Kovy didn't know who the new owner was going to be.  Plus I can imagine a season of where some paychecks were late and/or deferred (I think I remember hearing about this right after the sale) Kovy might have been worried who would step in JVB's place.  Regardless a guaranteed paycheck where he wouldn't be paying into escrow and lesser taxes while playing fewer games on a larger ice surface with lesser competition probably was enough to lure him away.

 

I mean wouldn't the new owners want to keep their most marketable player by far on the payroll?  These guys are billionaires and could easily pay his salary.

[NJDfan1711]

fvck Kovalchuk.  I'm over.  The guy's an a$$hole, had so much potential, but screwed over our organization as a player and has showed his true colors as a person as well.  He's never coming back to the NHL, and it's better for all.  Time to move on.

[DJ Eco]

At the time Kovy didn't know who the new owner was going to be.  Plus I can imagine a season of where some paychecks were late and/or deferred (I think I remember hearing about this right after the sale) Kovy might have been worried who would step in JVB's place.  Regardless a guaranteed paycheck where he wouldn't be paying into escrow and lesser taxes while playing fewer games on a larger ice surface with lesser competition probably was enough to lure him away.

 

I mean wouldn't the new owners want to keep their most marketable player by far on the payroll?  These guys are billionaires and could easily pay his salary.

 

Just the timing alone though makes me believe that Lou made it happen. Kovalchuk was obviously willing and would be easily sold on a Russia move after his stint in the KHL but I think this was all put in motion by Lou; and for good reason. We'll never know what the alternative was if our team was not sold exactly when it was. Only Lou, Vanderbeek, and Bettman know this.

 

Sure, on paper it sounds logical that the owner would want the team's superstar player as part of the deal, but not when you consider that it essentially tacks on $77m to the cost of the deal in the long run. They ended up getting the team for $320m, so a $77m "declining asset" being part of that is really just another 22% of that final purchase number $320m; suddenly the purchase price is $400m, not $320m. When you look at it like that, it's a pretty scary number. I'm sure the league knew this, I'm sure it was communicated to Lou and Lou had a "Hail Mary play" in his pocket to facilitate the deal, and that was the Kovalchuk departure. Lou knew Kovy's feelings toward the KHL, and all the reasons you gave in your post as to why a move to the KHL could be easily sold to him.

 

Harris' (and Apollo, his corporation) M.O. was always to purchase "ailing companies". That describes the Devils at the time (and suddenly without Kovalchuk's contracts on the books) to a T. He'd preferred buying the declining team without the superstar player, and in that context, the moves that have been made, to rebuild the organization for the long-term, it makes complete sense.

 

They didn't buy us after the 2012 Playoffs, they bought us after we missed the 2013 Playoffs and only after we lost Kovalchuk.

Edited August 26, 2015 by DJ Eco

[RizzMB30]

fvck Kovalchuk.  I'm over.  The guy's an a$$hole, had so much potential, but screwed over our organization as a player and has showed his true colors as a person as well.  He's never coming back to the NHL, and it's better for all.  Time to move on.

I've been saying this for OVER 3 YEARS, dear god.  Phenomenal hockey player, but can definitely have a sh!tty attitude.  He also started declining soon after his back injury in the 2012 playoffs.  It was not smart to play through an injury that could be so detrimental to the long term of his career.  There's no real evidence that he can successfully make the return.  Not to mention he'd have to get the approval of every GM in the league.  There's just no way that Kovalchuk or any connection that he might have will get him back into the NHL.  

Edited August 26, 2015 by RizzMB30

[BostonNala370]

I am DONE with Kovy. He did tell Lou in January of the year he was leaving. IMO Lou help him make the change,

[Triumph]

I've been saying this for OVER 3 YEARS, dear god.  Phenomenal hockey player, but can definitely have a sh!tty attitude.  He also started declining soon after his back injury in the 2012 playoffs.  It was not smart to play through an injury that could be so detrimental to the long term of his career.  There's no real evidence that he can successfully make the return.  Not to mention he'd have to get the approval of every GM in the league.  There's just no way that Kovalchuk or any connection that he might have will get him back into the NHL.  

 

Was it smart for Scott Stevens to play after sustaining a concussion in 2003?  No, but the Devils won the Stanley Cup, even though Stevens would never play in a playoff game after that year.  Kovalchuk played because he wanted to win, even though he was totally through by the end of the playoffs.

[Jas0nMacIsaac]

Id take him on a 1 year contract next year to let him become a UFA the following year. 

[RizzMB30]

Was it smart for Scott Stevens to play after sustaining a concussion in 2003? No, but the Devils won the Stanley Cup, even though Stevens would never play in a playoff game after that year. Kovalchuk played because he wanted to win, even though he was totally through by the end of the playoffs.

Yes, but the team was playing very well going into that Final iirc. Could the Devils have won without Stevens? (I honestly don't know, I was fairly young in '03)

Stevens had paid his dues and was close to retirement anyway. Kovy was not and still in the prime of his career. Were both needed? Kovy was definitely needed, but I don't know if Stevens was.

Sent from my C6725 using Tapatalk

[NJDevs26]

Do you really think it's just coincidence that the Kovy retirement (our most expensive, most high profile signing in history) happens less than a month before the biggest most high sale of ownership in our franchise's history?

 

And you think the sale took less than a month to happen?  It was already in the works, they didn't decide to buy the team cause they didn't have to pay the Kovalchuk contract.  The owners bought the team to get the Prudential Center rights as much as anything else, which JVB wasn't willing to sell until the end.

[NJDevs26]

Just the timing alone though makes me believe that Lou made it happen. Kovalchuk was obviously willing and would be easily sold on a Russia move after his stint in the KHL but I think this was all put in motion by Lou; and for good reason. We'll never know what the alternative was if our team was not sold exactly when it was. Only Lou, Vanderbeek, and Bettman know this.

 

Sure, on paper it sounds logical that the owner would want the team's superstar player as part of the deal, but not when you consider that it essentially tacks on $77m to the cost of the deal in the long run. They ended up getting the team for $320m, so a $77m "declining asset" being part of that is really just another 22% of that final purchase number $320m; suddenly the purchase price is $400m, not $320m. When you look at it like that, it's a pretty scary number. I'm sure the league knew this, I'm sure it was communicated to Lou and Lou had a "Hail Mary play" in his pocket to facilitate the deal, and that was the Kovalchuk departure. Lou knew Kovy's feelings toward the KHL, and all the reasons you gave in your post as to why a move to the KHL could be easily sold to him.

 

Harris' (and Apollo, his corporation) M.O. was always to purchase "ailing companies". That describes the Devils at the time (and suddenly without Kovalchuk's contracts on the books) to a T. He'd preferred buying the declining team without the superstar player, and in that context, the moves that have been made, to rebuild the organization for the long-term, it makes complete sense.

 

They didn't buy us after the 2012 Playoffs, they bought us after we missed the 2013 Playoffs and only after we lost Kovalchuk.

 

You guys are making it out to be that they bought the team solely because Kovalchuk was off the books.  Or that they don't have to pay anyone else to replace Kovalchuk.  They don't save $75 million, they save $75 milllion minus players they have to pay over the life of the contract to replace him (Jagr, for example, or Cammaleri followed by other FA signings down the road).

 

And Lou could give two hoots about making the team more palatable for new ownership to buy, he lost his job at the hands of those same owners because the team stunk the last two years.

Edited August 26, 2015 by NJDevs26

[RizzMB30]

You guys are making it out to be that they bought the team solely because Kovalchuk was off the books.  Or that they don't have to pay anyone else to replace Kovalchuk.  They don't save $75 million, they save $75 milllion minus players they have to pay over the life of the contract to replace him (Jagr, for example, or Cammaleri followed by other FA signings down the road).

 

And Lou could give two hoots about making the team more palatable for new ownership to buy, he lost his job at the hands of those same owners because the team stunk the last two years.

Easy buddy, Lou was given plenty of slack in the past three years.  He basically forced the owners hand.  It wasn't the owners fault that the team sucked, it was Lou and Lou alone.  This summer we've seen the transition of leadership in this organization and that transition has revealed what many of us already assumed.  That Lou was the center of all decision-making processes in New Jersey.  You're either lying or not paying attention if you dispute this.  I'm as big of a fan of Lou as anyone else on this board, but Lou was given a fairly appropriate amount of time to turn things around.  Would another year have changed things?  Not likely.  

A GM that was not as tenured as Lou would have been gone sooner, I would argue.  

[MantaRay]

Kovy will go down as the most damaging acquisition in franchise history and it was not a Lou move. JVB wanted Kovy as a means to sell the Devils to new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov. It cost us the Devils winning tradition, Parise, and several other leaders. We emptied the bank for a guy who never wanted to be in New Jersey.

[NJDevs26]

Easy buddy, Lou was given plenty of slack in the past three years.  He basically forced the owners hand.  It wasn't the owners fault that the team sucked, it was Lou and Lou alone.  This summer we've seen the transition of leadership in this organization and that transition has revealed what many of us already assumed.  That Lou was the center of all decision-making processes in New Jersey.  You're either lying or not paying attention if you dispute this.  I'm as big of a fan of Lou as anyone else on this board, but Lou was given a fairly appropriate amount of time to turn things around.  Would another year have changed things?  Not likely.  

A GM that was not as tenured as Lou would have been gone sooner, I would argue.  

 

I'm not arguing whether Lou should have been fired or not...but losing Kovalchuk certainly did not help matters the last two years.  And Lou lost his job because of the last two years.  That was my point.  You and others think he wanted Kovalchuk out of here because of the cap nonsense but losing Kovalchuk did not help him put a winning product on the ice, and that cost him his job.

 

Attributing Kovalchuk leaving to Lou and the organization wanting him to leave is just another way for the Kovy-fanboys to excuse the fact he's just a money-hungry flake.

Edited August 26, 2015 by NJDevs26

[Triumph]

People still have this idea that Kovalchuk was good or significantly impacted the team.  He didn't, not in 2 of the 3 years he was here.  Plus the Devils didn't even start talking to Jagr until Kovalchuk was gone, so it's doubtful that they ever have both players, and Jagr was a better player than Kovalchuk.

[RizzMB30]

People still have this idea that Kovalchuk was good or significantly impacted the team.  He didn't, not in 2 of the 3 years he was here.  Plus the Devils didn't even start talking to Jagr until Kovalchuk was gone, so it's doubtful that they ever have both players, and Jagr was a better player than Kovalchuk.

Although Kovy-Zajac-Jagr is a phenom first line.  I never thought about having both Kovy and Jagr.  

Edited August 27, 2015 by RizzMB30

[MantaRay]

What a surprise.

[Zubie#8]

Having Kovalchuk and Parise on the same team was something special. That offense was dynamic. It is a damn shame they did not have another full season together.