Thread: Kovalchuk is a NJ Devil. Now, get over it already.

Originally Posted by ElFuego

That'd leave us Fro to use on another D-man....

I may be sadly mistaken but I think the idea is to have Kovalchuk play with Frolov.

Originally Posted by KingFanMGM

Did your wife hear it at Taco Bell?

Oh, and THERE'S the line that never gets ****ing old. ****.

Originally Posted by VCRW

I may be sadly mistaken but I think the idea is to have Kovalchuk play with Frolov.

That could be. Again, EVERYONE is speculating at this point including myself so I was just throwing it out there. If we got him soon per se and the Kovi/Fro combination didn't pan out as expected and we move Fro at the deadline for a D-Man, for example. Who the hell knows...all I know is I want some Chuck...Kovalchuck.

I wasn't sharing it to make any one giddy. Of course doubt is to be expected, I mean if you are like me you really are having a bit of a hard time with all this winning and consistency. I almost feel like I am doing something wrong or at least unwise to be excited and confident that the Kings are for real.

I humbly shared it to bolster our confidence that the Kings are not asleep or satisfied. Honestly I really don't have a strong opinion regarding Kovy due to my chemistry concerns in my previous post.

Let me just say this as well, my wife didn't tell me this until last night and she has known for over a week. That is how much she thinks of my ability to keep any King related goodies to myself. Well I guess she is right but I am not sharing any controversial secrets Honey. Honest!

I'll be a bit shocked if Atlanta ends up moving him. Unless things have changed dramatically in their attitudes over the last few months, I thought both sides seemed really interested in keeping Kovalchuk in a Thrashers jersey. I'd imagine that feeling has only increased considering their play this year and current position in the East. Still, you always wonder when a deal hasn't gotten done yet, which leads to this kind of speculation.

That said, I'm not at all surprised that the Kings have poked their noses in there. If they weren't talking, they wouldn't be doing their job. Even if they don't want to risk it with Kovy as a rental player, they need to know who's talking to who, and what the asking price (and ultimately the selling price) will be. If for nothing else, they need to be on top of all those negotiations so they can estimate market price for Frolov.

Originally Posted by santiclaws

That's good enough for me.

What is "C is for cookie!" Alex?

Why wouldn't Kovi wanna play in LA? Great weather, great city, HUGE Russian community, a young team with a bright future, Olympic team buddy Fro, etc etc

Again, I don't think there's any way DL trades for Kovalchuk...but where's the fun in that?

Originally Posted by Iron Duke

This absolutely describes the Kovalchuk of 3-4 seasons ago. Ever since stepping up to take a leadership role, he, and the whole team, have played with a spark notably absent in the organization before. I'm not going to assume that he can't regress, but with the way he has approached his captaincy, as well as the greater role he's taken within Team Russia hockey, I believe he has matured greatly from THAT player.

I'm nitpicking, but I'd say it describes Kovalchuk of 2 seasons ago. Last season was the first season he started to really shrug off that rep...at least according to my buddy in Atlanta. He gets every bit as frustrated with Kovalchuk as Frolovians do with Frolov because he underachieves in stretches just the way Frolov does. The difference is that Kovalchuk's immense talent makes that same fault seem less important - getting mad at a guy for scoring 42 or 43 goals when he should be scoring 52 is a little different than getting mad at a guy for being on pace for 21 when he should be on pace for 35 (or 40).

The other thing is that Kovalchuk OFTEN has played with EXACTLY the SAME spark he's playing with right now...until right around the end of January and beginning of February when he just loses interest (that's how my buddy describes it).

That's the risk you take with Kovalchuk. You give up SO much to get him and you have no idea if he'll maintain this intensity for a full season. The bright side is that that Kings FINALLY have a roster of players who just might be able to keep a guy like him in line. I don't think they could have done it with Heatley but they MIGHT be able to do it with Kovalchuk.

Can't say what Waddell would be thinking but I have to believe Simmonds would be much higher on his list than Moller or Teubert. Additionally with Teubert, how much of a project he may be could make him unattractive to the Thrashers, who are already struggling with their current hulking nasty d-man project in Boris Valabik. I'm just not sure Lombardi would be willing to part with the assets I believe Atlanta will want in return. I also believe that, unlike the Hossa deal, Waddell has a much clearer vision and direction for what he'll want in return with the core he has in place.

I'm sure Simmonds would be higher than Moller or Teubert, but I wouldn't trade both Brown and Simmonds. That's not to say Kovalchuk isn't "worth" those two, but if I'm DL, he's not worth those two to ME. Why? Because I'd be gutting too much of the team. I would trade one of them but not both so for me, that would be a deal breaker and IMO it would be for DL too.

So I agree with you that I might not be willing to trade what Atlanta WANTS...but the real question is that if Atlanta is faced with losing him as a UFA or trading him for less than they WANT - it's not really too important what they WANT.

Originally Posted by santiclaws

You're putting a lot of faith in his ability to put it all together some day. He shows flashes, but then regresses. One step forward, two steps back. He ain't a wide-eyed 18 any more and the clock is beginning to tick louder.

Sure, but think back to guys like Bertuzzi who didn't develop into legit top line power forwards until after 25. I wouldn't want DL to be the next Mike Milbury.

Originally Posted by Iron Duke

In retrospect, Pittsburgh gave up hardly anything, a prospect whose career ended before it began, a pick, a player with tons of skill but nothing between his ears and a solid #4-9 forward. At the time, however, the value appeared to be significantly more for that rental. Esposito was considered to have some pretty high upside as a prospect, Christensen was known to be very skilled, but possibly not getting the right opportunity, and Armstrong was what he is, a solid, two-way, 20+ goal scorer. Have to look at the deal in the context of THAT time, not the current time.

Actually, I think alot of people (me included) didn't think much of what they gave up at the time. Armstrong was a guy who SHOULD have been a solid top 9 forward but had proven unable to do it, kind of like what Moller will probably be in about 4 yrs. Christensen was the equivalent of Purcell: a prospect who might do something with a change of scenery but even then, probably wouldn't. Esposito was a former elite prospect who fell so far in the draft he almost lasted to the 2nd round and really I was just never that impressed with him. I'd put guys like Teubert, Hickey, and maybe Bernier in the same category as him, although they are all very different players with different skill sets and very different values.

Can Kovy actually sign an extension now with the understanding that he will get traded? What is the rule? The "sign and trade" is a relatively common practice in the NBA, but I never see it done in the NHL. Why not?