Kovalchuk Traded For Peanuts

[maxwell]

jeebus! what a dealio for the devils! will be interesting too see how he does on a hardcore defensive team!

[lethfisher]

smokin deal for NJ... What was it that Kovalchuck turned down at Atlanta like $101 Million lol he musta wanted outa there for sure

 

From TSN site "Now the big question is… will the Devils be able to re-sign Kovalchuk, or is the 12-year, $101 million dollar deal Waddell says Kovalchuk turned down to stay in Atlanta too rich for the usually conservative devils?"

[birchy]

Apparently he was asking for the league maximum of $11.2 million per year.

[theboy]

Maybe he is sick of long term.....or the nhl as a whole!

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Who ever ends up with him and that salary better have it structured so that 95% in incentive based. Can anyone guess how well he will play after signing?

[maxwell]

u nailed it sundance! i doubt the devils will pick him up.. was a good trade for a cup run with a dude who wants too make madd cash... i can only see a few teams who might sign him at that price! it will be a interesting summer!E

[Smitty]

So Kovy wants the league maximum, eh? He thinks he's better than Crosby or Ovechkin? Arrogant jackass.

 

Salary cap is at, what, about 55 million? And he thinks he's worth about 20% of one team? Leaving 45 million for 22 other players? The rest of the team will average out to 2 million a year??

 

Any team that gives him that much is screwed. Maybe, just maybe if he was a modern day Gretzky or Orr. Maybe even a Lemieux or Messier. Just maybe. Maybe!!!

 

But he's not even in their league. As I said, pay Crosby or Ovechkin that much, if anyone.

 

And NJ got him that cheap because he's going to try and "cash in" on July 1st. Only way for him to get league maximum; create free agency feeding frenzy. Let's hope no team is that stupid.

 

What the hell I am saying...we're paying Horcoff 7 million...

 

-sigh-; wonder how much scotch I have left...

 

Smitty

[jayjjones11]

Smitty,

Kovo has been putting up 40-50 goals for the last 5 years (and on pace for another 50 goal year) on a team that has absolutely no players to compliment him. Both crosby and ovechkin have great teams around them.

 

 

Put Kovo on a good team, and he's just as good as any of the other two. Kovo will get a 10 mill + contract come Free agency

[Smitty]

Jay;

 

Fair point about not having much to play with; but, I still think he's not nearly a complete all round player like the other two.

 

So from my perspective, he has far from proven he's worth league maximum.

 

But some team will probably be dumb enough to pay him that much. I mean really, even if he played with a great set-up guy like Joe Thornton, and his average production goes up 10 to 15 goals per year (scoring 55 to 70 goals), is that really worth committing over 10 million per year, especially if some GM is dumb enough to offer him 9+ years??? I guess its the length too that bothers me; you might justify paying a player like that for 2-3 years in the middle of their prime...

 

I mean 12 years, my gosh, that would have taken him till he's 38 yrs old! No NHL'r is worth 11.2 million avg cap hit at that age!

 

Smitty

[bhurt]

Watching the early morning news this morning and they are all saying that kov is a rent a player, and most likely the devils will not be resigning him as he is a free agent at the end of the year.

[theboy]

It frees up soooo many options for the thrashers as well.Hes on of the best in the nhl......but you may see an even better side of him now that hes on a better team.

[bhurt]

I agree with theboy,

 

I have seen it many times in sport where one player doesn't do too well with one team and then goes to another team and explodes. There could be many reasons for this, could it be problems with the other players? Maybe his playing style did not fit the rest of the team, maybe the caoching system didn't fit him (coaching system to me means the way the coaches interact with the players) Maybe he just did not like the city in general and wanted to go somewhere else.

 

What I am getting at is there could be many reason why a player might play better somewhere else then where they are currently, we can only speculate what we think and we could very well be wrong in what we think.

 

Remeber at the end of the day any professional athelte is playing cause they love the game, but it is also a business for them and what business doesn't want to make money?

[robert]

 

 

I love how people talk about 8 million a year like it's nothing, or doesn't want to be long term anymore - yada yada yada. If someone wanted to pay me over 8 million a year i'd be their bitch and shovel pig **** for the term.

 

I'll just shut my big yap now

[bhurt]

I love how people talk about 8 million a year like it's nothing, or doesn't want to be long term anymore - yada yada yada. If someone wanted to pay me over 8 million a year i'd be their bitch and shovel pig **** for the term.

 

I'll just shut my big yap now

 

Or just go shovel pig *hit (j/k)

[yak]

Watching the early morning news this morning and they are all saying that kov is a rent a player, and most likely the devils will not be resigning him as he is a free agent at the end of the year.

strictly a rental. the devils were one of the top clubs before the deal and have likley put themselves over the top (if brodeur stays healthy) with this deal.IMO,the devils move to the top of the class in the east .

Kovy vs. AO in the conference finals?

[zed]

if kovy stays in jersey beyond this season, i'll eat my shorts. he's a rental player and an expensive one at that. a former first rounder/promising rookie in bergfors, a solid top 4 dman in oduya and a first rounder (plus that pathetic coward cormier but that's another topic). they had better go DEEP in the playoffs or they lose the gamble.

[Guest Sundancefisher]

if kovy stays in jersey beyond this season, i'll eat my shorts. he's a rental player and an expensive one at that. a former first rounder/promising rookie in bergfors, a solid top 4 dman in oduya and a first rounder (plus that pathetic coward cormier but that's another topic). they had better go DEEP in the playoffs or they lose the gamble.

 

I agree.

 

The guy is whay 26 years old? Probably at his prime and maybe has another 2 or 3 prime years left and then the slip starts. While he could argue he is worth 8 million for the next 3 years based upon their already rediculous salaries...after than he steadily decreases in value. To turn down the contract he was offered shows he is an arrogant numbskull who will be hitting himself with a hockey stick in 4 years. 10 years...$100 million...yikes...

 

Anyone who buys this guy deserves the underachiever he will be after the ink dries. No incentive to play under an elephant of a contract...unless someone is smart enough to include a milestone clause.

 

Sun

[theboy]

...or its not about the money and next year he signs with a team who has a chance.....he might not want to lock down with a team that has a first line and 3 4th lines!

[Smitty]

I was told by my buddy that one of the things the NHLPA did 'win' in the last negotiations for the CBA, is that, in exchange for a salary cap, the players got a minimum spending threshold, PLUS there were to be no more "incentive" based contracts.

 

Frankly, I think incentives are the ONLY way to go, but its obvious why the players wouldn't want them. I get sick of players pulling what I term a "Todd Marchant".

 

Todd Marchant was about a 38 point per year player. Then, golly gee, what a surprise, he goes into the last year of his contract before UFA, and viola, what a freakin coincidence, he pulls out a 60 point season. Oilers have to let him go (smart), because they know he was going to get overpaid; and he was.

 

Same with Shawn Horcoff, Fernando Pisani, and Bobby Holik (45 million dollar contract from the Rangers). It sickens me to see players cash in on the "one magical Todd Marchant year", and then go back to the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th line players they are (even though they're getting first line money).

 

Anyways, that's a bit of a hijack, not alot to do with Kovy, because he is undoubtedly a top talent. Very few pure goal scorers can be found in the league; they're definitely tough to come by. So assuming he continues to stay healthy and lights it up in NJ, he'll get the league max or somewhere close to it. Frankly, it was a good move for Atlanta - it was a hell of an offer from them, and I agree with the previous posters; one hell of a risk for New Jersey.

 

Ironically, I read in the paper today that the Atlanta mgmt are not adverse to trying to sign him as a free agent. Oh, that would be delicious irony for NJ....lol

 

I think LA will try to sign him. Chicago can't afford him with the contracts they've got, maybe Boston, maybe the Rangers. But LA would seem like a fit for a ego like Kovy's.

 

BTW, don't count Pittsburgh out of the playoff picture just yet....

 

Smitty

[jayjjones11]

I agree.

 

The guy is whay 26 years old? Probably at his prime and maybe has another 2 or 3 prime years left and then the slip starts. While he could argue he is worth 8 million for the next 3 years based upon their already rediculous salaries...after than he steadily decreases in value. To turn down the contract he was offered shows he is an arrogant numbskull who will be hitting himself with a hockey stick in 4 years. 10 years...$100 million...yikes...

 

Anyone who buys this guy deserves the underachiever he will be after the ink dries. No incentive to play under an elephant of a contract...unless someone is smart enough to include a milestone clause.

 

Sun

 

 

Love to know where you get the 'prime' age. Most players peak around 27 for their skating, but they get smarter...Most would say a winger peaks around 30

[yak]

...or its not about the money and next year he signs with a team who has a chance.....he might not want to lock down with a team that has a first line and 3 4th lines!

hes russian. priorities are in this order

1-money

2-personal stats

3-money

4-personal stats

5-money

6-olympic gold medal

7-money

8-vodka

9-SC ring

hes gonna sign in the KHL for a zillion bucks and wont give a rats ass about winning a real championship.

[reevesr1]

Yah. Nobody in North America cares about money. Only those damn Russians. You know, like the ones who play(ed) for the Red Wings. Bunch of money grubbing bastards.

 

 

[yak]

Yah. Nobody in North America cares about money. Only those damn Russians. You know, like the ones who play(ed) for the Red Wings. Bunch of money grubbing bastards.

the wings are/were led by guys like yzerman,shanahan,lidstrom, and zetterberg (assuming you know the last 2 guys are swedes and not russians).The wings ruskys (datsyuk,larionov,etc) were the flash and the players i mentioned were the team leaders.

say what you want but i garantee ovechkin or kovy would take an 80 goal season over a stanley cup any day. If I ever see ovechkin, or kovy block a shot in the playoffs i will eat my shorts.

ps. Im not talking about russians vs "N americans". Im talking about russian vs canadian players.

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Love to know where you get the 'prime' age. Most players peak around 27 for their skating, but they get smarter...Most would say a winger peaks around 30

 

More just what I have seen. Iginla peaked at 29/30. I think the strength and endurance and speed of youth is more powerful that smarts in this league. Speed wins. Still you need someone with smarts on the ice to set up plays but what is more powerful than smarts is just chemistry. Some players just play well and compliment each others styles and can guess which direction they will turn.

 

When this guy turns 30...his asset value will be dropping...not rising IMHO. In terms of skill and value...that offer is more like paying him

 

Age Salary

27 $15 million

28 $15 million

29 $15 million

30 $15 million

31 $10 million

32 $10 million

33 $5 million

34 $5 million

35 $5 million

36 $5 million

 

 

Which is pretty sweet in the twilight of your career.

 

My sense is either...he only wants to play 3 or 4 more years then retire a king in Russia, pick a team that can win as an expensive last minute hire or hated Atlanta and just wanted an excuse that people understand...greed versus saying "I hate it here and want out".

[Hawgstoppah]

I bet he just hated atlanta and he will sign for ovy / crosby money somewhere. 8-9 mil.