Thursday night saw the second blockbuster trade happen involving an elite player in the span of five days. The New Jersey Devils, not usually involved in high stakes deals, got themselves one of the most prolific goal scorers of the last decade in Ilya Kovalchuk.
Kovalchuk was drafted 1st overall in 2001, and is still only 26 years of age ? an amazing thing to think about when pondering his career stats after already playing eight years in the NHL. In 595 career games played (up until Saturday morning) he has 617 points ? 328 of which are goals. He has five straight seasons of 40+ goals, has 87 or more points in four of his last five seasons, and is a three-time All-Star. He owns the Thrashers single season goal record with 52 (which he did twice), is their career point leader with 615 (almost 200 more than the next player), and has the most goals (328, next closest with 149) and assists (287, one more than current Thrasher Slava Kozlov).
So he was undoubtedly the face of their franchise, but amid stalls in a contract negotiation, the Kovy rumors swirled. Apparently Boston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia were also in the mix, but it was New Jersey that made an uncommon splash. Now they have two very good offensive lines. Friday night, his first game with the club, he Kovy suited up on the second line with Danius Zubrus and Jamie Langenbrunner; the first line was Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Brian Rolston. Patrick Elias is still hurt but he likely slides right into that first line, potentially the second line with Langenbrunner jumping back up with last year?s line-mates on the first line. Kovy also makes their power play one of the best in the NHL. Though a forward, he typically lines up at the point on the power play because he has one of the best slap shots and one-timers in the league. Friday night toward the end of the 3rd period, he played the entire two minutes on the point in a key man advantage situation.
The returns were immediate: two assists, a riled up crowd, a victory, and an excited Marty Brodeur. The last name is important, because I feel Brodeur is why a deal like this got done. Brodeur will be 38 toward the end of the playoffs, so the Devils window is closing. Though his play hasn?t dropped from being considered elite in net, the Devils front office clearly wants to take advantage of it while he is still able to play at a high level. So they swing for the fences and go for the Cup this year ? which they now have to be favored right alongside Washington to come out of the Eastern Conference.
Will they re-sign Kovalchuk? Not sure, he is demanding a lot of money. But even if they don?t, they should be poised for a long playoff run, higher attendance, and a more exciting brand of hockey without giving up much for this year or their future.
Grade for the Devils: A+
If you ask me (which, of course, no one will), Don Waddell should be fired. He has been the G.M. since the Thrashers came into existence in 1999. What has it yielded? One playoff appearance where they were swept out of the first round, and a mass exodus of star players. Dany Heatley (traded for Marion Hossa), Marc Savard (left as a free agent), and Marion Hossa (traded to Pittsburgh in the final year of his deal because he made it clear that he wasn?t going to re-sign) all found their way out of Atlanta almost as quickly as they came in. The one constant has been Kovalchuk, staying with the team and signing an extension. Now he is the final year of that deal, and Waddell couldn?t have played these contract and trade talks any worse.
[rant] If your organization is struggling for wins, has made one playoff appearance ever, and is struggling to make money and put people in the seats, you don?t play hardball with an exciting, elite player. Your team has never been able to keep any of their previous very good players, and it seems barely anyone wants to come to your team during free agency because you never win, and everyone else leaves. And fans know this, that is why they haven?t embraced the team and don?t pay money to come to the games. It?s all intertwined. You have one of the top two pure snipers in the entire NHL, a guy who can change the game with one shot, and better yet he is only 26. So he is just at the beginning of his prime, and with no restrictions on length of contract, you could make him a part of your organization for life. He is your captain, and THE MOST important player your organization has ever had. You have the chance to change peoples? minds about your organization. That you do care about winning, that you want to build something, and you will spend money to do it. If Kovy wanted the max for 12 years (roughly $133 million), you give it to him. Yes, it?s a hell of a lot of money, but when you make a public statement saying you offered $101 million, what?s the difference? Principle? If you are going to offer $101 million, you might as well go to $133 million. You need to prove to EVERYONE that you are serious about building a winner around the most important player in franchise history and a guy who is one of the top-10 most exciting and skilled players in the league.[/rant]
There is the possibility that Kovy was being a conniving jerk and wouldn?t re-sign no matter what, but I don?t necessarily believe that. No one turns down $133 million of guaranteed money that takes you until you are 38.
Waddell shot himself in the foot during this process. The main error was making public the dollar figures on the contract negotiations. I would think that a lot of teams were scared away from making quality offers because they were worried about the money Kovalchuk was ?demanding,? making them doubt their ability to keep him after the season. Secondly, I think he acted way too quickly. I am fine with making it known now that he will be available and making it known what you are looking for (reportedly Waddell said he wanted a top-4 defenseman, top-6 forward, prospect and a pick). But when dealing with a player of this magnitude, and a deal of this great importance (because you want to be OK for the future, but you also don?t want to ruin your chance at a playoff spot when you sit 3 points back), I say wait until the trade deadline. Trade deadlines are great days, because there is always one or two GMs who panic and offer too much to get that one last piece to their puzzle for the playoff push or Cup run. He acted way too fast on this.
So did he get what he wanted? Ehhhhhhhhhhhh kinda? Johnny Oduya, apart from having the best name in sports, is a quality defensive defenseman and is signed for two years so they won?t lose him. Is he top-4? Yeah, borderline though. He will be for sure next year because Pavel Kubina is a free agent. Top-6 forward? Debatable. Niclas Bergfors has had an O.K. rookie year so far with 13 goals and 27 points, but he hasn?t had a point since January 5th. A lot of this deal hinges on him becoming a 20-goal/60-point player and developing into a top-6 forward on a good team. Right now, jury is out. Prospect? Sure they got one, but should anyone be excited about Patrice ?The Flying Elbow? Cormier? Scouts peg him as a futue 3rd/4th line player. Not exactly what you are looking for when you trade a 50 goal scorer. They got a 1st rounder too, but with the Devils making out much better in this deal, that pick could be in the 25-30 range.
If I am a Thrasher fan, I?m pissed because I have no one to be excited about for the future, and I don?t see how this helps us stay in the playoff hunt this year.
Grade for the Thrashers: C
Nick can be reached at nickobergan@hotmail.com or on twitter at @nickobergan
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