That doesn’t explain why LA would consider the trade. Kovalchuk May have struggled, but he still put up 34 points in 64 games. (Compared to Sutter's 6 points in 26 games). Both players have 2 years left on their contracts. But if they’re retaining $2m on Kovalchuk they actually end up paying a higher cap hit than what they currently have. I doubt there’s enough incentive for them to make the trade 1 for 1, let alone adding the 22nd overall pick as a sweetener