[Signing] Kovalchuk signs with Montreal

[KnuckleHead16]

7 hours ago, Alflives said:

Chemistry.  Kovi isn’t exactly known fir his hard work off the puck.  

Kovy button line is a great overall player! yes he’s not as fast;) yes his shot not exactly what it was;) but this guys still know and is very intelligent when he has the puck! He creates offence while the guy can still Snipe! He was cheap at the time we should have been all over him when we had the chance Buttom line! He would have help out with our scoring solidifying our top six! At that price we win! Chemistry always would have been there cause of his intelligent hockey mind! Age and speed don’t mean a thing if you have these traits! The puck moves a lot faster then a guy can skate buds! 

Edited February 3, 2020 by KnuckleHead16

[KnuckleHead16]

7 hours ago, HKSR said:

Probably worried about disrupting the chemistry on the team.  Kovalchuk doesn't exactly scream 'character guy'.  Although, he would look really nice as an option on the 1st unit PP where Boeser is.

How do you know this lol! So what he made mistake leaving for khl that was in the past! I don’t judge characters based on their pass! The guy can play hockey a very intelligent player for a great discount. 

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, KnuckleHead16 said:

Kovy button line is a great overall player! yes he’s not as fast;) yes his shot not exactly what it was;) but this guys still know and is very intelligent when he has the puck! He creates offence while the guy can still Snipe! He was cheap at the time we should have been all over him when we had the chance Buttom line! He would have help out with our scoring solidifying our top six! At that price we win! Chemistry always would have been there cause of his intelligent hockey mind! Age and speed don’t mean a thing if you have these traits! The puck moves a lot faster then a guy can skate buds! 

Okay, you are allowed to love Kovi.  I know there is zero chance JB brings Kovi here, so no worries about Kovi ruining our team’s chemistry 

[KnuckleHead16]

3 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Okay, you are allowed to love Kovi.  I know there is zero chance JB brings Kovi here, so no worries about Kovi ruining our team’s chemistry 

Well obviously we missed our chance! The stupidity of it lolol! Dumb just like how we missed out on Evander Kane. could have got him at a discount aswell! So irritated sometimes! With some of our fan base lolol! But im good now lol 

Edited February 3, 2020 by KnuckleHead16

[qwijibo]

52 minutes ago, KnuckleHead16 said:

Kovy button line is a great overall player! yes he’s not as fast;) yes his shot not exactly what it was;) but this guys still know and is very intelligent when he has the puck! He creates offence while the guy can still Snipe! He was cheap at the time we should have been all over him when we had the chance Buttom line! He would have help out with our scoring solidifying our top six! At that price we win! Chemistry always would have been there cause of his intelligent hockey mind! Age and speed don’t mean a thing if you have these traits! The puck moves a lot faster then a guy can skate buds! 

Suzuki has really started to blossom in Montreal having a skilled linemate like Kovalchuk. Anyone running down Kovalchuk’s effort in Montreal hasn’t been watching the games. I could seriously see Montreal extending him for another season. 

[qwijibo]

 

[VIC_CITY]

8 hours ago, Alflives said:

So now my reading comprehension is in question?  

Okay, I agree I’m getting worked up,  so I will leave the thread.  

Alf showing restraint! I don't know if I've seen him angry yet...

[Alflives]

5 minutes ago, VIC_CITY said:

Alf showing restraint! I don't know if I've seen him angry yet...

Yup.  Learning that drinking is a far better choice for one’s long term survival than arguing with any mod.    got to remember they are refs who are playing the game too.  Just turtle like Tkachuk 

[VIC_CITY]

7 hours ago, HKSR said:

He doesn't get it Alf.  Don't bother.  Like you said, teams keep true character guys to help groom the young players coming in.  They don't dump them.

 

Working hard and being a good teammate are two completely different things.  If Kovalchuk was such a good leader in the dressing room, and such a good guy to have around, he'd still be on LA.  Now Montreal is trying to get rid of him too lol

 

I think both of those things are probably true. He probably didn't fit in in LA and LA was probably justified in cutting bait.

 

But it could also be true that Kovy has been a model player in Montreal. It was clearly his last shot at an NHL gig and he's made the most of it. Plus when you're scoring and things are going well for you, it's easy to be a good team guy. You're playing, you're scoring, contributing to the team, what is there to complain about? But when you're paid big money and things don't go well for you, things can get toxic. Look no further than our own Loui Eriksson and what happened in the summer with his comments about Travis Green. 

 

Players can turn it around though and all the credit too them. Loui had another horrible start to the season but still managed to be a good team guy. He's currently being rewarded for that. Same with Kovalchuk. Good for them.

[VIC_CITY]

Just now, Alflives said:

Yup.  Learning that drinking is a far better choice for one’s long term survival than arguing with any mod.    got to remember they are refs who are playing the game too.  Just turtle like Tkachuk 

Shots fired!

[VIC_CITY]

2 hours ago, KnuckleHead16 said:

How do you know this lol! So what he made mistake leaving for khl that was in the past! I don’t judge characters based on their pass! The guy can play hockey a very intelligent player for a great discount. 

No one knows for sure but if you're an NHL GM, it's a pretty big red flag when another team says we'll pay $6M+ for you to stay the hell away from our team. Half of the other GMs can probably just pick up the phone and call Rob Blake and find out exactly what happened. 

 

So like I said, we don't really know for sure but that's a big red flag and you can't fault other GMs for staying away. Montreal took a risk and it paid off for them.

[.Naslund]

Kovalchuk used to average like 25-28 minutes a game in NJ back in his heyday. He was also deployed both on the PP and PK. I feel a lot of the Kovalchuk hate on here is because he "went back to Russia", did not perform that well in LA, and essentially because he is Russian. 

 

Fact of the matter is he is getting paid the minimum to outperform many top six forwards in this league and he is peaking at the right time (close to the playoffs). He seems rejuvenated being in a hockey mad market and is feeding off of it. If had for cheap, he'd be a valuable asset to the team, there's no denying it, however; I think with us potentially not having a first this year, GMJB not wanting to part with the second as well.

 

Don't hate the player, have some respect for the guy, let's see some of us lace up and be as productive as he has been, or better yet, let's see Mr Boeser outperform him.

[KnuckleHead16]

29 minutes ago, VIC_CITY said:

No one knows for sure but if you're an NHL GM, it's a pretty big red flag when another team says we'll pay $6M+ for you to stay the hell away from our team. Half of the other GMs can probably just pick up the phone and call Rob Blake and find out exactly what happened. 

 

So like I said, we don't really know for sure but that's a big red flag and you can't fault other GMs for staying away. Montreal took a risk and it paid off for them.

What red flags? Don’t be delusional;) That’s not excuse to pass judgment on a guy. Could be alot more to it, then what your implementing. The guys in the kings dressing thought he was great. Maybe it just had to do something with the coaching staff... myb he didn’t like the type of style of play.  not suted to his style of game. who knows. Just the management would know. Still no reason to assume. Just my thoughts, on the matter. 

Edited February 4, 2020 by KnuckleHead16

[.Naslund]

15 hours ago, VIC_CITY said:

No one knows for sure but if you're an NHL GM, it's a pretty big red flag when another team says we'll pay $6M+ for you to stay the hell away from our team. Half of the other GMs can probably just pick up the phone and call Rob Blake and find out exactly what happened. 

 

So like I said, we don't really know for sure but that's a big red flag and you can't fault other GMs for staying away. Montreal took a risk and it paid off for them.

In the NBA this happens quite often actually on good terms. Teams will sign guys after luring them with the hopes of a championship and fame. The team will not perform to expectations so they'll mutually agree to a buyout and that player will be free to pursue other endeavours with other teams at a discounted price, while the underperforming team will look to rebuild

[Coconuts]

15 hours ago, .Naslund said:

Kovalchuk used to average like 25-28 minutes a game in NJ back in his heyday. He was also deployed both on the PP and PK. I feel a lot of the Kovalchuk hate on here is because he "went back to Russia", did not perform that well in LA, and essentially because he is Russian. 

 

Fact of the matter is he is getting paid the minimum to outperform many top six forwards in this league and he is peaking at the right time (close to the playoffs). He seems rejuvenated being in a hockey mad market and is feeding off of it. If had for cheap, he'd be a valuable asset to the team, there's no denying it, however; I think with us potentially not having a first this year, GMJB not wanting to part with the second as well.

 

Don't hate the player, have some respect for the guy, let's see some of us lace up and be as productive as he has been, or better yet, let's see Mr Boeser outperform him.

I feel like a lot of folks forget just how good he was before he left. Jersey didn't throw money at him for no reason. Hell, they got close to getting another cup with him in their lineup. He was productive in the KHL too. The skill has always been there, though he's not as fast as he once was. 

 

If not for Jersey being in financial trouble I imagine he'd have stayed. He actually did them a favour by leaving, he didn't have to leave that money on the table. 

[VIC_CITY]

18 hours ago, KnuckleHead16 said:

What red flags? Don’t be delusional;) That’s not excuse to pass judgment on a guy. Could be alot more to it, then what your implementing. The guys in the kings dressing thought he was great. Maybe it just had to do something with the coaching staff... myb he didn’t like the type of style of play.  not suted to his style of game. who knows. Just the management would know. Still no reason to assume. Just my thoughts, on the matter. 

Do we know for a fact that everyone in the Kings dressing room thought he was great? Typically teams don't eat $6M+ to send a player packing when he's a good influence. Like I said, we don't know all of the facts here. But Kovalchuk had a poor performance in LA, he was sent packing and at that point, there wasn't really a ton of motivation to sign him. Like I said, Montreal took a chance and it paid off. But most of the time these situations don't pan out. So I place no blame on JB or Canucks management. I also have no interest in giving up half decent assets for him at the deadline. 

[VIC_CITY]

3 hours ago, .Naslund said:

In the NBA this happens quite often actually on good terms. Teams will sign guys after luring them with the hopes of a championship and fame. The team will not perform to expectations so they'll mutually agree to a buyout and that player will be free to pursue other endeavours with other teams at a discounted price, while the underperforming team will look to rebuild

I don't follow a ton of basketball but didn't TO do this with either Gasol or Jeremy Lin? 

 

Seems like odd practice to me. If a player has enough value that a championship calibre team wants them, you'd think they would have some sort of value in a trade. Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe the money saved is the value?

 

Edit: Same with Byfuglien. Does he really have zero value? I was surprised to hear about the potential contract termination. We're talking about a sure fire 1st pairing dman when healthy. I guess it depends what shape his ankle is in?

Edited February 4, 2020 by VIC_CITY

[oldnews]

Full disclosure:   I have considered Bergevin to be one of the worst GM's in the business.

 

But credit where it's due:

 

Tatar, Suzuki, 2nd for Pacio has turned out very well

Armia for taking on Mason = pretty solid move.

Danault and a 2nd for Weise, Fleishman was a steal.

Weber for Subban proving to be one of the more dramatically under-rated deals in recent years.

Domi for Galchenyuk worked out better than probably could have hoped.

2nd for renting Plekanec to the Laffs.

Byron off waivers.   Chiarot, and Kovi signings...

mix in some good depth deals - Thompson, Kulak, Weal....and getting assets back for Shaw...

 

A lot to like in there - probably more than enough to make up for the Sergachev deal.

 

[Tower102]

1 hour ago, VIC_CITY said:

I don't follow a ton of basketball but didn't TO do this with either Gasol or Jeremy Lin? 

 

Seems like odd practice to me. If a player has enough value that a championship calibre team wants them, you'd think they would have some sort of value in a trade. Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe the money saved is the value?

 

Edit: Same with Byfuglien. Does he really have zero value? I was surprised to hear about the potential contract termination. We're talking about a sure fire 1st pairing dman when healthy. I guess it depends what shape his ankle is in?

It is nearly impossible to compare the NBA to NHL as the rules are quite different. In the NBA its a soft cap where you can be over it, and if you are, your trades have to nearly match in salaries which eliminates the draft pick for player on the deadline type deal, which more or less removes the value for a trade. Whereas those teams can sign guys to certain contracts that are considered exceptions where it allows the team to add guys despite being over the cap. The NHL system makes WAY more sense, the only way I say the NBA system working better is it is designed to allow teams to sign all their home grown talent to keep teams together that they drafted (as long as they are willing to pay luxury taxes). 

[KnuckleHead16]

4 hours ago, VIC_CITY said:

Do we know for a fact that everyone in the Kings dressing room thought he was great? Typically teams don't eat $6M+ to send a player packing when he's a good influence. Like I said, we don't know all of the facts here. But Kovalchuk had a poor performance in LA, he was sent packing and at that point, there wasn't really a ton of motivation to sign him. Like I said, Montreal took a chance and it paid off. But most of the time these situations don't pan out. So I place no blame on JB or Canucks management. I also have no interest in giving up half decent assets for him at the deadline. 

Yup we already missed or chance when he was on free agency I would have jump all over the at at that price! We missed a beautiful opportunity! It’s too late to grab Kovy now there’s no way I’m giving up a second for him. We already missed our chance that’s all I’m saying;) 

Edited February 5, 2020 by KnuckleHead16