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Kovalchuk removed from SKA after 1 Playoff Game


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Surprised it took this long for someone to post about this

 

Maybe this dude is a bigger headcase than we thought.

 

With that being said, I would welcome him back....but NOT at the cap hit he was going to be at when he signed the mega deal

 

 I guess let the predictions begin for how this unfolds.....

 

I know the rest of the teams would need to vote to let him come back.  If he came back, would it be the terms of his original deal?

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I was looking on r/hockey earlier (I know, I know) and I was shocked at the number of Devils fans there who wanted to bring him back...the guy hasn't played a game-heavy NHL schedule in a few years, still has a bad back, and who knows if he is still good for a locker room. Let him rot in St. Petersburg or go play for the new KHL team in Beijing

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I was looking on r/hockey earlier (I know, I know) and I was shocked at the number of Devils fans there who wanted to bring him back...the guy hasn't played a game-heavy NHL schedule in a few years, still has a bad back, and who knows if he is still good for a locker room. Let him rot in St. Petersburg or go play for the new KHL team in Beijing

You were shocked? So you were shocked to see how stupid a lot of fans are? I'm not shocked at all. People are morons.

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I'd want him back. And if he did come back, it'd be on a highly reduced deal. He'd probably be making as much or less than Travis Zajac and for fewer years.

Check your emotions at the door, rewatch our 1-0 loss to the Isles at home on Friday, and tell me he wouldn't help our team.

Edited by DJ Eco
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I think a 3 year deal at around 2-3 per would be good but someone else would probably outbid us and that's fine. 

We can't score. Dead last in the league. Not saying he'd be a 30-40 goal scorer again but I think he might be able to put up around 20. Maybe a one year prove it deal to be safe makes more sense but again I think we'd be outbid.

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17 minutes ago, DJ Eco said:

I'd want him back. And if he did come back, it'd be on a highly reduced deal. He'd probably be making as much or less than Travis Zajac and for fewer years. Check your emotions at the door and tell me that wouldn't help our team.

I think just about every Devil fan would sign up for 2011-12 Kovy.  That version was still prone to occasional WTF?! brainfart moments, but was a pretty solid player overall, and often quite good. 

But it's really hard to think that Kovy could ever be that kind of player again (forget for a moment that he was asked to skate an insane amount of minutes for a forward...no way he'd hold up under that kind of workload now).  His heart was already not into being an NHL player once, and there's no way I'm putting my franchise in a position where he could do that again.  The ultimate Kovy-whisperer in Jacques Lemaire is no longer around to get through to Kovy that playing some defense and shoring up deficient areas of one's game is actually a good thing. 

He may not even be physically up to playing an 82-game NHL schedule anymore.  He's only gotten older since leaving, and has had physical issues.  And with his skills possibly declining, he's probably more trouble than he's worth. 

I could actually understand some other team that has no history with him saying "What the hell, why not?" and signing him to a low-money deal, one-year deal.  And though you can make the argument that the New Devils aren't really the same Devils that Kovy played for in a lot of ways, I still think these Devils should steer clear.  I just don't think the upside is high enough to bring him in, and not worth the potential aggravation.   

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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2 minutes ago, DJ Eco said:

I'd want him back. And if he did come back, it'd be on a highly reduced deal. He'd probably be making as much or less than Travis Zajac and for fewer years.

Check your emotions at the door, rewatch our 1-0 loss to the Isles at home on Friday, and tell me he wouldn't help our team.

I was hurt for about 2 hours that he left and then that turned to delight.  That contract was an enormous albatross.  Here's how he's produced in the KHL since: 182 GP  68 G, 100 A, 168 P.  That's in a second-tier league.  He's averaging 31 goals per 82 games in a second-tier league.  Also, what did he do for the Devils offense?  They were last in the league once, 28th once, and middle of the pack once in the three seasons he was here.  There was little indication that he added very much offense.  The times he did seriously add offense - with the Thrashers - it all went away on defense.   

Ilya Kovalchuk was once a world class scorer.  He simply is not a world-class scorer anymore.  He was always terrible at defense and away from the puck play and I can't see how that's ever not true.  The only reason he would come back to the NHL is money, something which he no longer deserves.  The potential is gone.  The greatness is gone.   

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3 minutes ago, Triumph said:

I was hurt for about 2 hours that he left and then that turned to delight.  That contract was an enormous albatross.  Here's how he's produced in the KHL since: 182 GP  68 G, 100 A, 168 P.  That's in a second-tier league.  He's averaging 31 goals per 82 games in a second-tier league.  Also, what did he do for the Devils offense?  They were last in the league once, 28th once, and middle of the pack once in the three seasons he was here.  There was little indication that he added very much offense.  The times he did seriously add offense - with the Thrashers - it all went away on defense.   

Ilya Kovalchuk was once a world class scorer.  He simply is not a world-class scorer anymore.  He was always terrible at defense and away from the puck play and I can't see how that's ever not true.  The only reason he would come back to the NHL is money, something which he no longer deserves.  The potential is gone.  The greatness is gone.   

Those KHL numbers are pretty much what Jagr and a 20-21 year old Tarasenko put up.  Ovechkin was on pace for something like a 40-45 goal season when he played there during the lock out. 

They were last in the league in scoring in 2010-2011, which is clearly due to what you would call the MacLean anomaly and no Parise.  The next year, they were tied for 11th in the league.  The lock out year, he was hurt for about a quarter of the season, and if you recall, the Devils started losing and being unable to score immediately after he got hurt. 

I have no idea if he's the same player anymore, but if he's close to what he was when he was here, and there's a deal you could live with, I sign him up in a heartbeat. 

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I want him back - not on the premise that he'll be 2012 Kovy, but simply because he'd probably find a place on our top-2 lines.

We're GARBAGE up front. And if he can be had for free (ie, trade not required) why the hell wouldn't we take him on a decent contract?

Do what the Predators did with Radulov - and if it doesn't work out for half the season, bid him farewell in the off season.

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3 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Those KHL numbers are pretty much what Jagr and a 20-21 year old Tarasenko put up.  Ovechkin was on pace for something like a 40-45 goal season when he played there during the lock out. 

They were last in the league in scoring in 2010-2011, which is clearly due to what you would call the MacLean anomaly and no Parise.  The next year, they were tied for 11th in the league.  The lock out year, he was hurt for about a quarter of the season, and if you recall, the Devils started losing and being unable to score immediately after he got hurt. 

I have no idea if he's the same player anymore, but if he's close to what he was when he was here, and there's a deal you could live with, I sign him up in a heartbeat. 

The difference between Jagr and Kovalchuk is that Jagr pulls play forward with his ridiculous puck and man on man skills.  Kovalchuk doesn't.  In addition, Jagr's spectacular board play is not something that's going to help him tremendously in the neutral zone dominated KHL.  The difference between Tarasenko and Kovalchuk is that Tarasenko played 15 mintues a game and Kovalchuk gets 20.  That's the thing that people did not and will never understand about Kovalchuk.  Yes, the counting numbers are there.  But he plays more than anyone else.  He's taking up more ice time to do the same job top players are doing.

Ovechkin was on pace for a 50 goal season when he played there during the 2012-13 lockout.  

He's not the same player anymore.  Do you think a dominant Kovalchuk is given a game off by his team?  There's all sorts of rumblings that SKA is unhappy with him before this.  

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Yeah, I would like him back on a low cost short term deal, basically because of what he could bring to the team in terms of production and how desperate we are for scoring, BUT, of course there are concerns with how well he'll hold up physically, if he's capable of playing heavy minutes each night over a long season, and whether or not age has caught up to him while maturity may have stayed the same.

And despite all of that, pros and cons aside, there's no real reason to think he'd come back or be allowed back.  There's no way all 30 teams would agree to that.  More than likely several would have a problem with it, but it's almost a guarantee that at least 1 would fvck up the unanimous vote that would be needed.

 

EDIT:  Oh and for the record, I didn't see anything wrong with that hit in the video clip.  Didn't look to me like he was scared or anything, I just think he was, rightfully so, trying to avoid a hit, and actually got clipped on the skates and tripped. 

Edited by NJDfan1711
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4 minutes ago, Triumph said:

The difference between Jagr and Kovalchuk is that Jagr pulls play forward with his ridiculous puck and man on man skills.  Kovalchuk doesn't.  In addition, Jagr's spectacular board play is not something that's going to help him tremendously in the neutral zone dominated KHL.  The difference between Tarasenko and Kovalchuk is that Tarasenko played 15 mintues a game and Kovalchuk gets 20.  That's the thing that people did not and will never understand about Kovalchuk.  Yes, the counting numbers are there.  But he plays more than anyone else.  He's taking up more ice time to do the same job top players are doing.

Ovechkin was on pace for a 50 goal season when he played there during the 2012-13 lockout.  

He's not the same player anymore.  Do you think a dominant Kovalchuk is given a game off by his team?  There's all sorts of rumblings that SKA is unhappy with him before this.  

All I can really tell is what his point totals are, which don't concern me that much in and of themselves.  You bring up what are legitimate red flags.  If people watching him play can tell that he's clearly slower, his shot isn't as good, that his attitude is getting worse, etc. then by all means stay away, or, better yet, trade away his rights to some sucker GM if that's possible.

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7 minutes ago, Daniel said:

All I can really tell is what his point totals are, which don't concern me that much in and of themselves.  You bring up what are legitimate red flags.  If people watching him play can tell that he's clearly slower, his shot isn't as good, that his attitude is getting worse, etc. then by all means stay away, or, better yet, trade away his rights to some sucker GM if that's possible.

He's being paid to be a superstar and he's not.  Panarin outscored him last year.  Shipachev is outscoring him this year.  This is not good.

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2 minutes ago, Triumph said:

He's being paid to be a superstar and he's not.  Panarin outscored him last year.  Shipachev is outscoring him this year.  This is not good.

Not to jump into this discussion or debate that's been going on, particularly between the two of you, BUT, to be fair, Panarin is looking like a superstar already, so your comment is along the lines of saying Crosby is outscoring Ovechkin this year.

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25 minutes ago, Lateralous said:

This is how I feel as well.   I think the Kovy ship has sailed and there's no reason to bring back a 60% version.   

I'd argue that a 60% version of Kovalchuk is still better overall than 4 of our top 6 forwards.

1. Stempniak - admirable job for the Devils this season, maybe a more complete player than Kovy.

2. Palmieri - Gritty guy, plays a complete game as well.  Better overall, probably less talented offensively.

3. Cammalleri - does this guy still play for us?

4. Henrique - More complete, doesn't score, etc etc.

5. Zajac - lol.  But he's so good on defense!  

6. Elias? Blandisi? Boucher?  Better than anyone else we have slotted here.

He'd be a godsend on our second line.  Push Blandisi down to the third line where he really belongs for now.

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35 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

I'd argue that a 60% version of Kovalchuk is still better overall than 4 of our top 6 forwards.

1. Stempniak - admirable job for the Devils this season, maybe a more complete player than Kovy.

2. Palmieri - Gritty guy, plays a complete game as well.  Better overall, probably less talented offensively.

3. Cammalleri - does this guy still play for us?

4. Henrique - More complete, doesn't score, etc etc.

5. Zajac - lol.  But he's so good on defense!  

6. Elias? Blandisi? Boucher?  Better than anyone else we have slotted here.

He'd be a godsend on our second line.  Push Blandisi down to the third line where he really belongs for now.

Yeah but what would be your goal in signing him and is it worth all the baggage that he comes with?  If you're of the opinion that adding him makes us a playoff team, I would be all for it, especially since we wouldn't have to give up anymore assets to get him.   Personally, I do not think a 60% Kovy makes us any better of a team and possibly makes us worse given that he can be a liability at time.  IMO, the only thing it does is make the first two weeks of game that he's back for more interesting until we realize he's not the same player anymore.     

Also, given that we're clearly in a rebuild, is Kovy the type of player we want teaching the young guns how to become professionals? 

 

  

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