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License To Ilya

June 27, 2017, 7:57 PM ET [8 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT

Два года не виделись! #hcska #скаснамипитер #мычемпионы

A post shared by Ilya Kovalchuk (@ilyakovalchukofficial) on





Imagine for a moment an NHL where John Tortorella coaches NHL defector and KHL all star Ilya Kovalchuk.

It could happen, according to Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson.

“I think there’s interest,” Davidson on Sportsnet Radio on Tuesday.

“I don’t know where it’s going to go.”

Davidson was asked if he and Jax GM Jarmo Kekalainen are interested in pursuing the 34 year old KHL star.

Davidson said that he spoke with Kovalchuk's agent on Tuesday. Further discussions are expected to occur before the NHL UFA period opens on Saturday.


“I actually had a discussion with Jay Grossman, his agent, today and I told him we’ll be in discussions and Jarmo our general manager will be making the decisions,” said Davidson.


The Blue Jax have admitted that they have a window in order to make a serious run at dethroning their arch rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins to make a legit run at winning a Stanley cup.

Last week, Sergei Bobrovsky won the Vezina Trophy. "Bob" is up for the challenge of carrying his team on his back.

Kekalainen, Davidson and AGM Bill Zito shocked the Hockey work at the NHL Draft when they traded Brandon Saad back to the Blackhawks in exchange for Russian marksman Artemi Panarin.

A Kovalchuk-Panarin duo would be grotesque.

The Panarin trade was a mic drop moment for Columbus as it served notice that the Blue Jackets are sick and tired of playing second fiddle to Sidney Crosby, Geno Malkin, Matt Murray and the Penguins.

Davidson said that his hockey ops department have not finalized their 2017-18 roster yet. There are still moves to be made. Trades and free agent acquisitions are still very real options for Columbus.

Davidson says the organizational is to get better than the 50 win team from last season.


"We’re looking at our team and there’s still trades to be made,” said Davidson. “There’s free agents to be signed. We’re trying to get better. We’re trying to fill certain holes. And we’ll figure it out.”

Kovalchuk signed a ginormous 15-year, $100-million mega-contract with the New Jersey Devils in 2010. The enigmatic Russian scoring machine shocked the international hockey world when he announced his retirement from the NHL in 2013.

Kovalchuk, the power left winger, drew the ire of the Devils when he signed with KHL powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg, where he has played for the past five seasons.


St. Petersburg went 16-2 in the 2017 playoffs en route to the Gagarin Cup championship. Former NHLer Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk led St. Petersburg to the championship.


In 816 career NHL career, Kovalchuk scored 417 goals and 399 assists. He was a point a game performer over his 11-year NHL career. In 32 career playoff games, Kovalchuk scored 11 goals and 16 assists.

Kovalchuk scored 32 goals and 46 assists in 60 games last season in St. Petersburg.






Ray Shero and New Jersey still hold Kovalchuk's NHL rights. If the Devils don't want him back, they can sign-and-trade him to Columbus. No trade can happen before July 1.







The Devils are not the only team eyeballing Kovalchuk right now. The San Jose Sharks and LA Kings are also interested in Kovalchuk. The Las Vegas Knights are also serious suitors. Vegas already has secured the services of Russian sniper Vadim Shipachyov, the 30 year old scorer, who has been Kovalchuk's teammate with SKA st, Petersburg. The Knights have a cornucopia of premium assets in the form of players and draft choices that they can use to up the ante on the Kovalchuk sweepstakes.


Shero will be looking to maximize his asset and will not be letting Kovalchuk skate away from Newark for chump change.


Начали новую победную серию!

A post shared by Ilya Kovalchuk (@ilyakovalchukofficial) on



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The NHL team that fails to win the Kovalchuk sweepstakes will have to find their scoring left winger via the trade market or via unrestricted free agency.

That leaves Evander Kane and Matt Duchene as the two principle left wingers of interest in the trade venue.

Let's say that Kovalchuk ends up in Columbus. The Blue Jackets become a favorite to immediately win the Eastern Conference.


San Jose, Nashville, LA, Anaheim, and Vancouver will all continue their hot pursuit of Evander Kane and Matt Duchene.



There are three scoring left wingers on the UFA market in Patrick Marleau, Patrick Sharp, and Drew Stafford.






***


The Arizona Coyotes continued their demolition project on Tuesday.

Last week, the Coyotes canned their long time head coach Dave Tippett. They also dusted veteran leaders Shane Doan and Mike Smith.


n Tuesday, Yotes GM John Chayka bounced another veteran member of his organization. This time, it was associate coach Jim Playfair.





Playfair is a respected coach in the NHL and AHL.

Playfair may find himself in a reunion with one of his former players who is now the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres.


Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill was one of Jim Playfair's leaders on the 200-01 St. John Flames team that won the AHL Calder Cup championship.















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I want to take a moment to say thank you to Jon Christiano, who has been a fixture with the Buffalo Sabres for the past 20 years.

Christiano and the Sabres parted ways in Tuesday. At one point, the Buffalo native was promoted to director of professional scouting in the Darcy Regier administration. Christiano has been a professional scout for the Sabres since 2014.

I've learned a lot about the NHL and the game of hockey from the conversations and interactions I have had with him over the years. Christiano is one of the brightest hockey minds that I know. I wish him the best of luck in his future. There my mind that Christiano will be hired by another NHL team in the near future.


The Sabres have also moved on from amateur scout Kevin Prendergast.

When Jason Botterill became Buffalo GM, former director of scouting Rob Murphy, director of amateur scouting Greg Royce, pro scout Jim Kovachik and amateur scouts Keith Hendrickson and Brandon Jay were relieved of their duties in Buffalo.

Rochester Amerks development coach Randy Cunneyworth also lost his job on Tuesday.
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