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Once Again The Devils are Taken Lightly and WHAM! Plus rumors... |
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I will warn you ahead, I usually stay away from opinion and speculation, but before getting into rumors I am hearing, here are thoughts on what has transpired...
First, props to Michelle Kenneth from InsideHockey.com.
She told me from the outset she believed Kovalchuk had one team he wanted to play for, and that team was the NJ Devils. She came to this conclusion based on discussion with Ilya and his agent Jay Grossman dating back to April. Her hunch and perception were truly remarkable. I recommend following her on twitter @MichelleKenneth and reading her on InsideHockey.com and on MichelleKenneth.com.
So...if Kovalchuk wanted to play in NJ the entire time, why all the LA dances?
Well, I do believe Ilya is a family man and wanted to find the best deal for his family as well as the best place for his wife and her singing career. This is extremely admirable in this day and age. Family happiness matters....but the NJ money was also much higher.
There were several factors at work here.
First, you have the NJ Devils and Lou Lamoriello.
A deal this size, and even trading for Kovalchuk is out of Lou's character. The Devils are a team first organization. To a fault. I mean, how many times can I watch Mike Mottau skate with the #27 and be baffled by the fact that arguably the most valuable defenseman of the last 20 years, Scott Niedermayer, who wore #27, had his number given away immediately? If anyone out there feels Niedermayer's number shouldn't be retired by the Devils, I will argue you to the end. In general, when a player is so obviously going to be retired by a team, when the player is a lock for first ballot Hall-of-Famer, the number is never given out.
Heck the Flyers still won't give the number 31 to a goalie.
So why did Mottau have Scotty's number?
"That's Lou," friends close to the Devils would say.
I remember being told once, "There is no individual player for the Devils. We own those jerseys. Those numbers don't belong to the players. They are property of the NJ Devils."
This is the way things have been for years.
This is the team:
...who invented the trap
...who invented the counter attack
...whose defense was instrumental in the NHL eliminating the two-line pass, the tightening of clutch and grab rules, and the addition of the trapezoid for goalies.
Two words: DEVILS HOCKEY
And Devils Hockey has been the most influential force in hockey in the NHL since the mighty Oilers fell. I know Devils Hockey all too well. The frustration it can bring. And it was Devils Hockey, the most refined form of team play ever put forth, which crumbled when one Ilya Kovalchuk was inserted into it. In the plyoffs Ilya was giving everything he had to make something happen, while those players around him stayed in their positions and on their assignments as Ilya flew by them.
This is not to say it can't work. But here are the questions I have:
Does Ilya play Devils Hockey (where Ilya scores 31 goals with 35 assists)?
or
Do the Devils play Kovalchuk Hockey (where Ilya notches 50, but the team fights off the demons of Thrashers seasons past)?
or
Do the Devils have one more trick hiding under a Rock in Newark?
Is there a hybrid game they know will work?
or
Is DEVILS HOCKEY no more?
or
Is this team no longer a Lou team? The end of an era?
Ok, understand something....
In many ways the Devils game looking so terrible against Philly in the playoffs was an actual credit to just how well these guys LIVE and BREATHE their system. Devils Hockey was such a part of them, there was just no way you could insert any player, no matter the talent, into the well oiled machine and expect it to still run...not even part-way as well as it had.
I assert again...The Devils get very little respect for how transformative their presence in the NHL has been...However...
The Devils thrive on being being under-appreciated. It is almost part of their strategy. It is part of Devils Hockey...And as such it works to their advantage.
Even in the Kovalchuk Sweepstakes.
Here is what baffles me:
The Kings were very much acting like they were the only suitors in this thing. Acting like the Devils were out of it. Did Jay Grossman not tell them the Devils had a mega offer out there? Of course he did. He owes it to his client to have a bidding war.
But here's the thing:
Talking to people today, I don't get any impression the Kings ownership or GM believed for a second the Devils were in on it. I was told flat out by people involved, even yesterday, "It's the Kings or the KHL...and the KHL isn't really an option." So when the Kings were told Ilya was preparing on Monday to accept or reject their final offer, they were a confident bunch. When he went back to NJ, as he said he would, I don't think for a second the Kings were buying the Devils deal was a real possibility, or significant, or any sort of threat at all.
And just like that Lou grabbed the puck from a pressuring Kings team, caught them flat-footed and turned the momentum up ice for a lethal 2 on 1 against a goalie who had grown cold from lack of activity.
The Kings won't say they were shocked, but they had to be. They had all the pressure, all the shots, etc..
Then of course Gagne happens...
Which is equally curious. It was obvious Gagne was tied to the Kings and Kovalchuk, and yet the Kings lose out, and Gagne instantly is traded to Tampa.
But something else happened in LA...
And shortly after the Gagne trade went down I was told the Kings were working on another big-time top 6 forward, and that's why no Gagne. Dean Lombardi has told Helene Elliott he wasn't really considering plan B at this point. Again if that's true then Dean is in trouble here. I don't believe he is, and knowing Dean Lombardi he already has plans B through M in a file somewhere. He is planner, and there is no way he wasn't planning for this possibility.
So who is it?
Why did the Kings balk at Gagne when it was obvious the Flyers were waiting for them to make an offer? It could be Sharp, or Savard...but I really feel the Kings are targeting either Jason Spezza or Vincent Lecavalier...there are already rumors about this tonight...by tomorrow it could be everywhere..
As for the Flyers, while it is hard to say good-bye to Simon Gagne, Walker is a good fit. I know many of the fans are having a hard time with this, but Walker is a solid 5/6D with supreme toughness and a great locker room presence...Similar to Sean O'Donnell. In Walker and O'Donnell the Flyers have essentially grabbed two Jason Smiths and what they were missing in the Hawks series.
As for the next two dominoes:
Kaberle and Frolov...
Frolov is not coming back to LA I am told. He wants to play in Montreal, Columbus, Washington, or believe it or not, NJ. And sources I talked today on Kaberle were upbeat about Kovalchuk landing in NJ and also said the offers are getting better all the time for Tomas. That being said, "No Leafs will be traded this week" I was clearly told.
more to come...
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