In Russia NHL returns you. Kovalchuk staying in KHL.

[Daniel]

2 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Wood needs to be coached up. Dude was two years out of prep hockey last year. Think about that. There's clay there that can be molded. Coach him up.


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At the same time, there's a reason he was an overage prep schooler who wasn't in the USHL, CHL or USNDT.  Since the US Development Team, has there ever been a prep schooler that turned into an above average NHLer?

[MadDog2020]

At the same time, there's a reason he was an overage prep schooler who wasn't in the USHL, CHL or USNDT.  Since the US Development Team, has there ever been a prep schooler that turned into an above average NHLer?

This is a good point and I can't think of any off of the top of my head, but I think it's evident that Wood has... Something. He's like a bull in a china shop, but he has some ability, and he's fast as sh!t. Plus his dad played in the NHL for around 10 years, so there's a bloodline there too. If he could ever learn how to actually think the game, he could be a pretty good player.

 

 

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[NJDevs4978]

5 hours ago, Jerzey said:

I actually look forward to watching Wood target that bitch multiple times a year. Him being in a Rags jersey makes it even sweeter. If walking out on us wasn't enough reason for a Devils fan to hate this dipsh!t, suiting up for the Rangers is more than enough to set you over the edge. We should actually be pretty decent by then too.

Yeah if you thought the boos for Gomez and Holik were loud JUST WAIT till this piece of **** comes into the Rock next year in a Ranger uniform.  And not just cause he went there but for every bit of drama and backstabbing he's put us through over years and years, and all we got in return was a good playoff month and a half.

Edited July 5, 2017 by NJDevs4978

[NJDevs4978]

6 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I could see him flopping big-time with the Rangers...he could barely handle the "harsh" reaction from Devils fans when he got off to an awful start in 2010.  It will get a LOT uglier for him if he stumbles out of the gate in the Gawden.  

Hah good point, he wanted to take his sticks and go home after like two months before Lemaire threw him and the team in general a life raft.

[Triumph]

Not surprising and I don't see why we're taking it as a given that Kovalchuk will be a Ranger next year.  He's not going to walk into New York with a sweetheart offer.

At some point soon no one will want Kovalchuk and I suspect that will be a difficult moment for him.

[MadDog2020]

Yeah if you thought the boos for Gomez and Holik were loud JUST WAIT till this piece of **** comes into the Rock next year in a Ranger uniform.  And not just cause he went there but for every bit of drama and backstabbing he's put us through over years and years, and all we got in return was a good playoff month and a half.

The boos will blow the roof off. I may strain a throat muscle I'll boo that motherfvcker so loud. It'll make Driver, Holik, and Gomez look like they got standing ovations.


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[slasher72]

7 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Yeah if you thought the boos for Gomez and Holik were loud JUST WAIT till this piece of **** comes into the Rock next year in a Ranger uniform.  And not just cause he went there but for every bit of drama and backstabbing he's put us through over years and years, and all we got in return was a good playoff month and a half.

If that happens I hope he gets absolutely  crushed by one of our players. Guy is the most selfish, moneygrubbing a-hole to ever put on a Devils uniform.

[Satans Hockey]

Good on Shero for not taking a garbage deal to let this entitled ass back into the league. I hope nobody signs him next year and he rots in Russia for the rest of his life. If he does sign with someone I hope he gets rocked and his career is over in his first game back. 

fvck him, I'm beyond sick of having to hear his name come up as much as it does and I can't wait until I never have to hear it again. 

[Devilsfan118]

Can't wait until someone throws a flying elbow his way.

[Lateralous]

I like how Shero handled this entire ordeal.  From the very beginning, he basically put it on the agent to find a trade that would be suitable to the Devils.  it seems like he wasted very little time trying to appease Kovy and when the offers came back not to his liking, he let Kovy go back to Russia.  

I know some people think any asset he could have got back would be better than nothing, which is true in a vacuum but I also think it's important that Ray maintain his integrity when he sets a price and not let anyone call his bluff.  I think back to the Hall/Larsson trade where he told Chiarelli that the only thing he would accept for #5 was Hall (or McDavid) and in the end, that's exactly what he got.         

[moustic]

Can't wait for this thread to die slowly... 

(feel free to discuss about this topic of course... But i just wanna move on) 

(oh crap the other topic is the Jersey... And i don't care about this either... Damn... Long summer if Shero doesn't sign quickly someone : )) 

[dmann422]

I thought all along it was nothing more than a negotiating tactic for his next KHL deal, but its fishy to me that Brooks is the one to break it. My guess is is the Rags/Kovy agreed to a contract but the Devils refused to trade him there or asked for the moon.

[DJ Eco]

I've been one of Kovalchuk's biggest apologists over the past 4 years. I still maintain some belief that there was more to the "Kovalchuk retires" story than meets the eyes (timed to facilitate the ownership change, etc.), but I'm turning on him with this whole ordeal. He stuck another knife into our organization and any positive feelings I've had about Kovalchuk or his time here have all gone out the window. P.O.S.

[CommonDreads]

Just now, DJ Eco said:

I've been one of Kovalchuk's biggest apologists over the past 4 years. I still maintain some belief that there was more to the "Kovalchuk retires" story than meets the eyes (timed to facilitate the ownership change, etc.), but I'm turning on him with this whole ordeal. He stuck another knife into our organization and any positive feelings I've had about Kovalchuk or his time here have all gone out the window. P.O.S.

Feel the same way, I never felt the bitterness that most Devils fans felt towards Kovalchuk, but after this whole ordeal I'm fully on board with the sentiment that he can go fvck himself. I hope he goes back to Russia and has the worst season of his hockey career, and gets tossed to the wind in a year when he tries to limp back to the NHL like a wounded animal. Fvck Kovy, that bridge is burned as far as I'm concerned.

[DJ Eco]

2 minutes ago, dmann422 said:

I thought all along it was nothing more than a negotiating tactic for his next KHL deal, but its fishy to me that Brooks is the one to break it. My guess is is the Rags/Kovy agreed to a contract but the Devils refused to trade him there or asked for the moon.

I doubt it. His agent is Jay Grossman, whose agency is based in New York. Grossman is a New York guy, Rangers fan, part of the old boys' hockey network in this city, I think he just threw his old pal Brooks a scoop. Grossman has nothing to lose at that point (if Kovalchuk already decided on Russia), and Brooks breaking a story like this is obviously a nice favor to offer him (rather than waiting for Shero to discuss later this week or whatever).

[John Wensink]

Kovy...now the biggest A-hole to ever play for the Devils? I think yes already and if he signs with the rags next year even more so.

[dmann422]

20 minutes ago, DJ Eco said:

I doubt it. His agent is Jay Grossman, whose agency is based in New York. Grossman is a New York guy, Rangers fan, part of the old boys' hockey network in this city, I think he just threw his old pal Brooks a scoop. Grossman has nothing to lose at that point (if Kovalchuk already decided on Russia), and Brooks breaking a story like this is obviously a nice favor to offer him (rather than waiting for Shero to discuss later this week or whatever).

IDK, I think Brooks' 2nd tweet- the fact that Kovy decided to return after Shero couldn't make a trade- is telling. It would mean a contract was agreed to with some team but Shero didn't like the offer. That to me would mean either Kovy/the other team might have a case of sour grapes. Just my guess though- it could just be BS fed to him by Kovy to cover for the fact that it was just a way to get more money in Russia.

It'll be interesting to see what Shero says.

Edited July 5, 2017 by dmann422

[Chuck the Duck]

God ... fvck this guy!  I hope he goes to the Rags next year and never wins a god damn thing in the NHL.  That team, with or without him, is going nowhere in the foreseeable future as the Queen continues t decline and they trot out guys like Zibenijad (sp?) as their 1st line center.

 

[Devilsfan118]

49 minutes ago, dmann422 said:

My guess is is the Rags/Kovy agreed to a contract but the Devils refused to trade him there or asked for the moon.

If this is the case - I hope and pray Shero comes out and confirms it.

It'd make me respect Shero all the more. 

[roomtemp]

1 hour ago, Devilsfan118 said:

If this is the case - I hope and pray Shero comes out and confirms it.

It'd make me respect Shero all the more. 

Me too. I'm one who would have sold him on the cheap if necessary to any team but the Rags and probably the Flyers. As a marketing move you couldn't trade him to the Rags. Flyers maybe if the deal was reasonable but the Rags had to really overpay

[DJ Eco]

6 hours ago, dmann422 said:

IDK, I think Brooks' 2nd tweet- the fact that Kovy decided to return after Shero couldn't make a trade- is telling. It would mean a contract was agreed to with some team but Shero didn't like the offer. That to me would mean either Kovy/the other team might have a case of sour grapes. Just my guess though- it could just be BS fed to him by Kovy to cover for the fact that it was just a way to get more money in Russia.

It'll be interesting to see what Shero says.

I know what you're referencing but I don't know, with Larry Brooks, everything he posts the last few years sounds like he's just taking a shot in the dark, connecting some dots, and jumping to conclusions not based in facts. And The Post doesn't really rake him over the coals the many times he's wrong or off-track, so he continues that style of "reporting."

What we know:

• As recently as Sunday, Shero sounded like he wasn't even hearing back from Kovalchuk's agent, like there was a general lack of communication all around. He said something like, "If you hear anything, let me know," to the press jokingly.
• The onus was on Kovalchuk to discuss deals with teams prior to Shero being able to discuss trade details.
  • What Kovalchuk's "list" was is still nothing more than rumor. The rumors ranged from LA and Florida being mentioned to suddenly NY, Toronto, and Columbus; kind of a strange inconsistency there (and I would never imagine Kovalchuk actively wanting to go to Columbus, so what's that about?).
  • There is nothing in the way of either rumors or reporting that Grossman/Kovalchuk even came close to an agreement with any team. I mean, that drives the whole ship. They come up with the agreement(s), Shero swoops in and discusses trade/return. With no agreement in place, there is zero ball in Shero's court.
  • 3 years/$6.5 million AAV was a very specific number to have hit the rumor wire, so it's very telling that actual concrete contract negotiations with teams didn't generate any rumors/reports. You would think if actual numbers were coming out, some type of rumor of actual contract agreement would surface, no? But, nothing....
• We're all taking Kovalchuk's "desire to return to the NHL" at his word. Why do we give him the benefit of the doubt anymore? It seems increasingly obvious at this point that his NHL status was just leverage to ink the maximum deal he could get for one more year in the KHL. But then again, there's nothing in the way of actual tangible news that I can base that on (just like every other conclusion people are coming up with). It's very possible he was never interested in all the restrictions involved in returning to the NHL this year, and it was all a money game.
• We literally don't know anything else; no rumors, no leaks, no news or quotes from Shero, player, or agent. I need to stress this last point because some of the conclusions everyone (mostly Rangers fans and some other teams' fans) are jumping to are all rife with assumptions.

So yeah, that list looks long, but at the end of the day, we really know very little. Based on Shero's only quotes involving the Kovalchuk situation, my best guess is that Kovalchuk was taking us for a ride to maximize his KHL offer, and Shero must have realized that early.

I don't see how, between Sunday (where Shero indicates he's barely heard from the Kovy camp) and yesterday afternoon, Shero could've had deals in place and closed the door on all trade scenarios. That's not even 2 days, where we're expected to believe Shero goes from not hearing anything, to closing the book on all trades (enough for Kovalchuk to definitively go to the KHL)? Not plausible. The whole "Shero was asking too much" narrative seems super flawed. In less than 2 days, Shero closes the book on this and doesn't negotiate? Don't think so.

Edited July 5, 2017 by DJ Eco

[HOLLYWOOD]

Yep, playing all sides for himself. below, for posterity just in case he steps on Jersey ice again.

https://twitter.com/KovalchukNews/status/882713723089059841

Edited July 5, 2017 by HOLLYWOOD

[Triumph]

The idea that a Kovalchuk trade would look like a regular trade is where you're off on this, DJ.  Shero wasn't negotiating with 6 teams or whatever - Grossman was going to bring him the team and then they were going to work out a deal.  It is plausible that if the Rangers wanted Kovalchuk that the two GMs started negotiating and they were so far off that there was no hope of a deal getting done.

[Daniel]

15 minutes ago, Triumph said:

The idea that a Kovalchuk trade would look like a regular trade is where you're off on this, DJ.  Shero wasn't negotiating with 6 teams or whatever - Grossman was going to bring him the team and then they were going to work out a deal.  It is plausible that if the Rangers wanted Kovalchuk that the two GMs started negotiating and they were so far off that there was no hope of a deal getting done.

The idea that someone involved in this process thought the Rangers were a plausible destination speaks to a huge tone deafness on someone's part.  I don't care how much Shero says that the past is the past, he will not make a trade with the Rangers where there's even a 1% chance that the Rangers are a significantly better team.  Grossman cannot be that stupid to not recognize this.

The only thing I can see is that Grossman throughout June made it seem like there were all these other teams as possible destinations, engineered this threat of going back to Russia in late June, and then sprung the Rangers on Shero at the last minute in the hopes that Shero would be forced to make some quick decision based on the idea that it was better to get something, even if it was a third round pick, than nothing.  

We'll never know, but I wish Shero was a little more proactive in this process, but maybe he had no option.   I think pretty much any GM could write fascinating books.

[Mitico12]

Apparently Putin had something to do with Kovy staying in Russia.