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Breaking down the Kovalchuk rumours

Mozy

Entry posted by Mozy

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<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/11/nov1709_chbsmall_smallt.jpg" class="imageFloatLeftFramed">

Off the bat if it's not clear yet I'll let it out, I'm one of the biggest proponents to getting Kovalchuk at the deadline as a rental for this team. Heck I'd be over the moon if we could trade for him and get something of it, but there are several complications that come up and over the past week in talking to <a href="http://opiatedsherpa.com">The Opiated Sherpa</a> and my friend <a href="http://twitter.com/mechanixfetch">@MechanixFetch</a> I think there are somethings that need to be laid down as far as ground work for the Kovalchuk Pipe Dream as far as a long term stay for the Russian goes.

The Cap

It's no secret that Kovalchuk wants a gajillion dollars. Okay, he wants something in the area of 10 million a year. The Canucks are already locked up for 6 million per Sedin, and 5 million for Luongo, and that's before even considering re-signing Kesler or do you let him walk? Even still, barring Kovalchuk signing a 30 year contract that was front loaded just so that his seasonal cap hit was low enough there's no way we could sign him at the price he wanted. Even if he took less, we're still talking enough money that it doesn't look feasible.

Team Chemistry

One of the biggest issues with bringing in Kovalchuk is where do you slot him. He's a shoot first winger and the first instinct is to put him with the pass first Sedins. But why mess with Burrows? So do you put him on the second line? Kesler, Raymond and Kovalchuk sure would be a sweet line, but then you have Demitra and Samuelsson to deal with and after being snubbed by the Swedish Olympic team I hardly think Samuelsson will take being relegated to the 3rd line.

The other important thing which might tinker with the locker room is how do you tell your franchise players, the ones you couldn't afford to pay more, or the ones you pay 10 million dollars in a single year (Luongo), that you're going to bring in a player that warrants more money? How do you tell the Sedins they're only worth 6 million and then throw 10 at Kovalchuk?

The Vigneault Project

The bottom line is Kovalchuk isn't a Vigneault player. He's not defensive minded, he's shoot first (something this team needs, but still) and he's a lone ranger. He doesn't fit AV's style of play and mould and while his offense is a thing of beauty he's your typical Russian (nothing racial or derogatory meant here) hockey player and he's in many ways exactly like Ovechkin (minus the physical play). He's just not exactly the kind of guy that's going to back check as hard as AV wants him to. With that in mind that's not to say it wont change. We have to remember that he has played on a team where there haven't been many other stars and if he was brought to an environment with other players that can actually play we might see a change. His play on the Olympic team this year will be a really good eye opener as to what Kovalchuk looks like when he's on a team with other stars.

The Gillis Era

Gillis has preached a system of speed, youth, and built a team around players that buy into his system. This ties in to the Vigneault system of play and if Kovalchuk doesn't fit one mould, he's not going to fit the other. Gillis goes out after players who serve multiple facets of the game and players that aren't one dimensional. Kovalchuk is a pure goal scorer and unfortunately on a team run by Mike Gillis that might not fly. There's no doubt Kovalchuk is a talented player and I would love to see him on this team, but there are so many things that would have to change in order for him to work on this team it just doesn't look probable.

If you put aside all that we'd have to trade to get Kovalchuk, as a long term stay it just doesn't look like it would be a good idea. As a rental, if the price was right, I'd say go for Kovalchuk in a heart beat. On the power play, skating with Kesler and Raymond, that could be a thing of beauty. The deadline's still a ways away so we have time to see how things unfold. I doubt that we'll see any significant injury, but this season we've been hit by injuries no one saw coming and maybe there just might be a way to fit the Russian sniper in.

<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/11/nov1709_mozy_small.jpg" class="imageFloatLeftFramed">Richard Loat writes for Canucks Hockey Blog and is a fan of the underdog – first Bryan Allen, then Alex Burrows, and now Jannik Hansen. His passion for the Canucks led to the Canucks Hockey Blog and a lot of #Canucks tweets on his Twitter account.

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BedBeats™2.0

'Considering re-signing Kesler?!'

That is MG's contract M.O. at the moment.

It is rare...since the lockout....and since the rental-ccentric Cup winning Hurricanes, that rentals ever pan out.

This blog is a little long-winded......the simple fact of the matter is that the Canucks cannot even possibly fit a Kovie under the cap.

Even simpler...Waddel will probably lock him up.

Even more simpler, goal scoring is not a problem here in Canuck land.

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Lizardmen

Very well written article my friend. I strongly believe that Kovie is worth 2 million more than a Sedin for the following reasons.

He has been one of the top scorers in the NHL for the last couple years, the Sedins may be good now, but they could be 60 points players next year. But with Kovie you know he is guarantee to produce.

He can do it all by himself.

One of the best on PP in this league.

Game breaker.

Can score for us if we pull the goalie.

His shots can find holes through the opponent's Dmen and goalie to the back of the net.

If we want to go deep in the playoffs, we need Kovie. He is the captain of Atlanta. I have never heard of a captain ruining the chemistry of a new team after being traded. Sedins won't complain because they are nice and they will have less pressure every game. If Luongo is upset, he can suck it up and start to perform like he used to. We will have to trade Kesler or Raymond in the off season if we were to sign Kovie. Kesler is more greedy than Burrows and there is noway he would take a 2 million contract like he did.

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lmcbain

Kovalchuk is an awesome hockey player who has another gear that few others have; however, for a team like the Canucks, with some serious dollars already committed, and a legitimate shot at building toward regular cup contenders, I don't think he's a fit (at least not his salary).

We have a legitimate top line and a pretty durable one at that, we also appear to now have a very solid second line that has become a threat all it's own, with Kesler and Raymond as the anchors and both are young enough to run with for a few years. We also have another young gun in Grabner who showed enough before his injury to believe that he will be a legitimate NHLer (and he has an eye for the net).

On the cash side of the equation; we will have Demitra's $4m available again next year; even if he's here, the $4m won't be. I'd also hang onto a guy like Tanner Glass, who's showing up to be very good value and may go up in price, but isn't suddenly going to jump to $2m either. Where we do need to be expecting to drop some cash is Kesler and Raymond. Hodgson is another question, he was looking so promising coming off the world juniors, then he got hurt and hasn't really palyed since, other than a very short NHL pre-season, so I wouldn't expect him to make the big club next year - but never say never.

On the D side, unfortunately, Bieksa is looking pretty expensive; although he has had a couple of pretty serious freak accidents, it doens't change the fact he has not played like he did before the accident, since. We have Ehrhoff for at least another year and Edler is on file long term, Salo is likely here for another year as well; very good d-man when healthy, but of course that's the issue - when healthy. O'Brien is a young guy who looks to have potentially turned the corner and could be able to be secured semi-reasonably - the question is how much he wants to continue to be here under AV, versus trying his luck elsewhere - he's playing well enough that if he keeps it up, he'll have the option. I like Willie a lot, but pricing will likely play a role in things on that front.

Just some thoughts.

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BedBeats™2.0
Very well written article my friend. I strongly believe that Kovie is worth 2 million more than a Sedin for the following reasons.

He has been one of the top scorers in the NHL for the last couple years, the Sedins may be good now, but they could be 60 points players next year. But with Kovie you know he is guarantee to produce.

He can do it all by himself.

One of the best on PP in this league.

Game breaker.

Can score for us if we pull the goalie.

His shots can find holes through the opponent's Dmen and goalie to the back of the net.

If we want to go deep in the playoffs, we need Kovie. He is the captain of Atlanta. I have never heard of a captain ruining the chemistry of a new team after being traded. Sedins won't complain because they are nice and they will have less pressure every game. If Luongo is upset, he can suck it up and start to perform like he used to. We will have to trade Kesler or Raymond in the off season if we were to sign Kovie. Kesler is more greedy than Burrows and there is noway he would take a 2 million contract like he did.

Not worth the money.

Ill take the NHL's leading scorer over any one man show, any day of the week.....oh wait we already have him.

Kovalchuk will never don a Canucks uniform.

You do realize this is the NHL and not EA Sports NHL 10, right?!

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DownUndaCanuck

Thankyou. At least someone else believes Kovalchuk isn't coming close to Vancouver this year. But may I just ask, even without cap issues, do we need him?

Is the leading scorer in the NHL not enough? Is a top-5 ranked offence in GF not good enough? Is one of the league's most potent powerplays not strong enough? Do we really want to sacrifice defence for MORE offence?

Vancouver fans are being too greedy, we have arguably the league's best line. Let's just sit back and let the ride go on.

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Tatoes

Thankyou. At least someone else believes Kovalchuk isn't coming close to Vancouver this year. But may I just ask, even without cap issues, do we need him?

Is the leading scorer in the NHL not enough? Is a top-5 ranked offence in GF not good enough? Is one of the league's most potent powerplays not strong enough? Do we really want to sacrifice defence for MORE offence?

Vancouver fans are being too greedy, we have arguably the league's best line. Let's just sit back and let the ride go on.

There is a lot of things I would change about the current Canucks that will most likely end up in our offense drying up. The current team takes way too many unnecessary chances to pad their stats. It is working right now but I don't see it holding up in the playoffs when things get tighter.

Tightening up our sloppy play and getting Kovalchuk to make sure we can score during those games where it is 0-0 or 1-1 going into the third would be great.

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Lizardmen

Having Kovie and Sedins on different lines would make the opponents' Ds go nuts. I can only dream I guess. We can fit Kovie in our cap if Bieksa and Demo going the other way.

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