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BB doesn't like Ruskies and he also said that he has no intrest in Kovy.
Burke doesn't care where they are born. He likes guys with character. The problem with Russians I guess is the KHL threat which I seriously doubt he is a big fan of. He likes his negotiations straightforward.
And to be fair, he said he had no interest in paying Kovy Crosby/Ovechkin type money. He also doesn't believe in super long term contracts.
I would love to see Kovy in Toronto and I think we could easily have space for him. It could be a booster shot that the team needs. I don't know if Kovalchuk will agree to it, however, since he likely wants to join a team that has had more success recently. I won't hold my breath.
That's how I see the team when I watch it. The team has a couple good players and an awesome goaltender. I just think Kovalchuk being with the Rangers wouldn't be a smart move. When they can spend better money on making their WHOLE team better, that is all.
BB doesn't like Ruskies and he also said that he has no intrest in Kovy.
Correction: Burke said he has no interest in Kovy at the max price (100 mill over 10 years or even 8 mill cap hit). If Kovy really wants to be at the center, and wants to end up Toronto, he'd make the necessary cutback on both payment and term. Realistically though, that won't happen. My bet is on LA, in a Marian-Hossa type situation - pretty good player going to a rising team that will be in contention for the next while. Doesn't hurt the fact that his wife has stated she wants to live in LA.
In addition, the fact that he rejected a max deal from ATL is not, IMO indicative of his desire for more money. He simply did not want to be there anymore. He knows the KHL is an option, but most of the best players in the world are in the NHL, and he wants to be among the best. He just rejected the deal from ATL because he wanted out, not because he wanted more money.
LA, TOR (if the conditions are right) and STL will make a push for him. That said, stranger things have happened...
It's going to be very interesting to keep speculating until July 1.
St. Louis is an interesting case. Right now, they have tons of cap space... but they have three very expensive RFAs to sign. (Johnson, Steen, Parron) They also have very shaky goaltending with Conklin and an unsigned Ben Bishop as their top two, and that's a problem that's going to take some money to fix. Even bringing back Mason will certainly be $3m+. That's not even taking into account a blueline that essentially only stretches four men deep. That's also a fixable problem, mind you, but it takes cash to do so.
Now add in a deteriorating financial picture, which has never been rosy in St. Louis to begin with, and I don't think the Blues can go anywhere near the cap.
I don't think they make a serious run at Kovalchuk because the number of problems they have to address is too large (they have 24 players under contract for next season TOTAL, including minor-leaguers and prospects on sliding contracts) and the financial picture is too shaky.
If his asking price is still the same (which is quite likely) it can only be the KHL.
Frontrunners are Rangers, Oilers, Kings and maybe the Flames. BB is a fan of hard working hard nosed hockey Kovy is a pure sniper they're already having Kessel. Thinking Toronto could need a proven first line center way more.
I really don't think the KHL is a serious option for an elite player in his prime. I think even the Russian players realize that the KHL is a paper house, and anything longer than a one-year deal is very likely not to be worth the paper it's printed on. Malcontents and wash-ups can get rich for season or two in the KHL, but young elite players like Kovalchuk know the big - and secure - money is in the NHL. If you want a 7+ year deal, you don't go anywhere near the mobsters, tycoons, and frauds propping up the KHL.
(You stick with the mobsters, tycoons, and frauds running the NHL.)
He will ask for 100M$ over 10 year. That might be a good price to pay for a small market that needs a big name to sell tickets, but if your goal is to make the playoffs and go deep, Kovalchuk is too be avoided. He is a great regular season player, we can all agree, but he is too inexperienced in the playoffs for a GM to sacrifice to much cap/flexibility for him. He will likely eat up 1/6th of a teams cap for at least 7-8 years! That can only lead to cap management headaches.
Anyways I heard that Phoenix and Nashville will be able to spend more money next year, so I'll just throw their names in there simply based on the fact that Kovalchuk would help those franchises at the gate...
Burke is the most upfront gm there is so when he sounds that sure that he won't take a run at kovy I don't think it's gonna happen. At the same time Burke leaves no stone unturned so I would expect him to at least call on July first. But ultimatly I think kovy goes to LA, they have the cap room and could even trade handzus, stoll and save another 7.5. Kovy kopitar brown would be sick, and with doughty on the pp they could be top 3 offence in the league for years to come.
There is no way he will go there. I think that is one reason he wanted out of Atlanta, with all the rumours of them moving to Hamiton and possibly Winnipeg.
I really don't think the KHL is a serious option for an elite player in his prime. I think even the Russian players realize that the KHL is a paper house, and anything longer than a one-year deal is very likely not to be worth the paper it's printed on. Malcontents and wash-ups can get rich for season or two in the KHL, but young elite players like Kovalchuk know the big - and secure - money is in the NHL. If you want a 7+ year deal, you don't go anywhere near the mobsters, tycoons, and frauds propping up the KHL.
(You stick with the mobsters, tycoons, and frauds running the NHL.)
Excellent work, epecially the bolded part.
Also, I think any team that sucks is pretty much out of the question as well.
On paper, LA is by far the logical choice. They have the cap space, the roster flexibility, the financial backing, and the specific need for what Kovalchuk brings. Lombardi threw a huge contract at Hossa last summer, so despite what Kings fans think, he's not afraid to give it a go at a mega-deal. They are also uniquely qualified to give Kovalchuk and his family the big-market facility with small-market pressure that he seems to want.
That said, logic has every little to do with running pro sports teams.
My surprise pick is the Islanders. They have cap space up the yin-yang and an owner who doesn't know what the hell he's doing. They have both the capability, the history, and the stupidity necessary to offer a 15-year, $75m+ deal.
On paper, LA is by far the logical choice. They have the cap space, the roster flexibility, the financial backing, and the specific need for what Kovalchuk brings. Lombardi threw a huge contract at Hossa last summer, so despite what Kings fans think, he's not afraid to give it a go at a mega-deal. They are also uniquely qualified to give Kovalchuk and his family the big-market facility with small-market pressure that he seems to want.
That said, logic has every little to do with running pro sports teams.
My surprise pick is the Islanders. They have cap space up the yin-yang and an owner who doesn't know what the hell he's doing. They have both the capability, the history, and the stupidity necessary to offer a 15-year, $75m+ deal.
I think he wants to go to a playoff-caliber team. Why sign with a team equal to or lesser than the one he was on? He obviously turned the contract(s) down because he didn't want to be there anymore.
First of all, the Islanders are not going to be involved with Ilya.
Charles Wang is in the middle of turmoil with the team. He has been vocal about it, and now we hear murmurs of the NYM being interested in buying the Islanders.
Will they ruffle the feathers? Sure, we have more money than god knows who.
But it's a long shot. Charles Wang will not invest in another long term contract(BTW, he has yet to get one right) until he knows the future of his ownership with the team and their location.
i see kovi going to 1 of these teams on a much more realistic deal than 10 years 100mil...something more like 5-6 years and 8-8.5 per....maybe he will get an 8 year offer but i doubt it
kings-very good chance
colorado-cap space and they need a scoring winger
st.louis-good chance
toronto-if he will accept 5years and 8 per...it would be a great fit huge boost to toronto...and he will make a ton in endorsments being there
rangers-i dont know how they will do it but they will definitly try
isles-would be a great fit,lots of cap space,definitly need teh scoring...i just dont know if they can land a guy like him until they get more stable and get the arena situation fixed
nashville-they can really use teh star impact,and i think a 40-50 goal scorer can push them into being a cup contendor with whats allready there,have the cap space but not sure if they will use it
the smartest thing kovi could do though would be to sign a 1 year deal with a cup contendor for something reasonable like 6-7mil.....take a shot ata cup...hopefully build up his credentials witha strong playoff performance....then wait and see what happens to the cap situation under the new cba...its a cant lose situation either everything stays teh same with the cap and he just becomes a free agent again at 27 under the same circumstances as now....or the salary cap is improved under teh new cba...(either rasied significantly or a soft cap witha lux tax or something)....and then he will have many more teams willing to pay top dollar and long terms for him since tehy will have the cap flexibility
I can see him getting a five year deal somewhere around 37-40$ million which makes the list of potential teams that much greater
If he takes a 5 year deal, which will be his prime seasons as a player, you are looking at close to a max contract. You are way to low on that figure.
I really do not see how Boston can be in on this. Hall or Seguin are going to run them around $3.5 million/year including bonuses. They just do not have the cap room to get it done.
I don't see why he wouldn't sign a front loaded contract. No team in the league will pay him the max and nowhere has there been a credible source that has reported that is what Kovalchuk is seeking. He'll get a deal that pays him handsomely in his prime years (which is probably the next 7-8 years), and then come down every year towards the end of the deal.
And perhaps the reason he turned down similar offers from Atlanta was because he wanted to move on elsewhere, just as Heatley and Hossa did. That is a team suffering from its own problems off the ice.
He'll end up on a team and in a city that will support him and give him an opportunity to win. LA is the most likely scenario, at least, the one that makes the most amount of sense.
For those of you naming the Rangers, I think Sather has run out of aces up his sleeve. Do explain how he will unload the contracts of Redden and Rozsival and Drury. They must also re-sign Marc Staal and have almost $45M already committed to 14 players. They have about $12-13M of space to fill the rest of the roster. If they sign Kovalchuk, they are going to have a lot of difficulty filling up the rest of their roster.
i wouldnt be shocked to see basically every canadien team make an offer. of course the Rangers will as well
I'm thinking he can get about 7.8mil.
I really don't see Burke going for him for some reason... They have Kessel and I'm sure would rather throw that money at a centerman.
Montreal I also doubt will go for him. They'd have to ditch one of Gionta or Cammalleri and I don't see that happening. If they could dump Gomez, ya, but I think they'd need to go for a centerman aswell.
Vancouver, there's no room.
Ottawa I could see making an offer, but they'd need to make some pretty significant moves to make it work.
Edmonton will, but, likely won't do em any good unless they offer something ridiculous (8.75mil?).
Calgary could do it, but they'd need to dump alot of the mid-tier overpaid guys like Kotalik and Hagman. They'd have to dump Sarich or Regehr too.. I still see them making an aggressive offer or 7mil+.
i see kovi going to 1 of these teams on a much more realistic deal than 10 years 100mil...something more like 5-6 years and 8-8.5 per....maybe he will get an 8 year offer but i doubt it
kings-very good chance
colorado-cap space and they need a scoring winger
st.louis-good chance
toronto-if he will accept 5years and 8 per...it would be a great fit huge boost to toronto...and he will make a ton in endorsments being there
rangers-i dont know how they will do it but they will definitly try
isles-would be a great fit,lots of cap space,definitly need teh scoring...i just dont know if they can land a guy like him until they get more stable and get the arena situation fixed
nashville-they can really use teh star impact,and i think a 40-50 goal scorer can push them into being a cup contendor with whats allready there,have the cap space but not sure if they will use it
the smartest thing kovi could do though would be to sign a 1 year deal with a cup contendor for something reasonable like 6-7mil.....take a shot ata cup...hopefully build up his credentials witha strong playoff performance....then wait and see what happens to the cap situation under the new cba...its a cant lose situation either everything stays teh same with the cap and he just becomes a free agent again at 27 under the same circumstances as now....or the salary cap is improved under teh new cba...(either rasied significantly or a soft cap witha lux tax or something)....and then he will have many more teams willing to pay top dollar and long terms for him since tehy will have the cap flexibility
Kovalchuk will not put the Islanders in a position to be a cup contender. This is the type of signing the isles make 2 years from now when the young guys really hit their stride.
Right now, the Islanders need to stay put. Make a Mark Streit signing, preferably two, get a top 6 forward Ala Paul Kariya and go to war.
We are not in a position to declare one player putting us over the edge. We aren't even at the edge. Especially one that costs as much as Ilya will cost. It's just not probable.
