Ilya Kovachuk was reportedly signed, sealed and delivered to the Rangers a while ago for a possible three-year deal. But a funny thing happened on the way to MSG; the desire to play for a contender immediately and win the Cup. With New York in a rebuilding or retooling mode - choose the term you want - Ilya may not be the best fit for the team while the team may not be the best fit for the Rangers.
Larry Brooks has been beating the drum for the Rangers to sign Ilya K. for months. In March, he wrote:
He (Kovalchuk) would have been the right guy this year for the intended retool had the Devils been more amenable to shipping his rights across the Hudson for less than a first-rounder, and he is the right guy for next year’s rebuild/rebound season in which the Blueshirts should be able to compete for a playoff spot with some fortification.
You’re delusional if you believe the Rangers are going to throw a bunch of young lambs onto the ice to be slaughtered in 2018-19. The Baby Blueshirts will need accomplished veterans to help show the way, and Kovalchuk — most certainly along with Rick Nash, no guarantee to return after experiencing life near the top of the league in Boston — is one of the guys management will attempt to enlist who can do that.
Now, you may be thinking Kovalchuk, who has led the KHL in scoring each of the past two seasons and whose .511 goals per game average is 12th in NHL history among players with at least 400 goals, might be the natural sniper the roster and pipeline lack but that he is selfish and not much a team guy after bolting New Jersey for Russia in 2013 and isn’t the one to lead the way.
Not so.
Who says?
Martin Brodeur for one, that’s who.
“Kovy is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Brodeur, who played four seasons with No. 17 in New Jersey, told The Post on Monday. “And I’m not talking about just his play on the ice.
“He was one of our most engaged guys in the room. He was great that way. He really cares about winning, and he cares about guys on his team. Away from the rink, and I think it’s unusual in the NHL for someone from Russia, but his wife organized dinners and was great with the team.
“I have only good things to say about him,” said Brodeur, who was at the Garden, scouting the match against Carolina in his role as assistant general manager of the Blues. “I understood why he left, but from a personal and team standpoint, I wasn’t happy. It was a big loss for us.
“If he comes back, and it sounds like he might — I think he would have this year if it weren’t for the Olympics — he’s going to be a very good player for whoever signs him.”
All the kids here will benefit from veteran leadership, but perhaps Kovalchuk can have even a greater influence with Pavel Buchnevich, Vlad Namestnikov and Alex Georgiev, if not with current SKA mates and projected future Rangers Igor Shestyorkin and Yegor Rykov.
The Blueshirts aren’t going to be the only team pursuing Kovalchuk, whose SKA club opens its conference semifinal series Thursday after having swept the first round. The Blues may be interested. We’re told Dallas will be in the mix. Perhaps the Panthers.
And there is the matter of a contract. The Rangers surely would prefer to sign Kovalchuk to a one-year, over-35 deal loaded with bonuses and barring that, a two-year deal. But Kovalchuk might be looking for more. The Blueshirts won’t want to sign veterans to long-term deals that might block the advancement of their kids, but even this refreshed feeder system is lacking in goal scorers.
So that concern should not be an impediment to bringing Kovalchuk to Broadway, where goal-scoring and leadership will be needed next season.
On April 9, the below broke with much of the discussion surrounding can Eronko be trusted, why three years and for who much?
As more and more info filters out, that reporting sure looks to be premature. Unless Kovy is a great poker player and bluffer, no one else has even hinted that a deal is in place with the Rangers. Plus, as noted above, with contention his main priority, New York may fall behind many others in the battle for Kovalchuk, presuming he is towards the top of their list.
Friday, Darren Dreger (https://www.tsn.ca/dreger-report-kovalchuk-says-winning-the-priority-in-nhl-return-1.1100940) reported that for Kovalchuk, winning and nothing else is the priority.
With the freedom to choose his next NHL destination, Kovalchuk is focused on winning a Stanley Cup. He intends on being very selective when it comes to sifting through the offers and isn't necessarily motivated by conference or geography. He simply wants to win.
“The NHL is the best league in the world and the Stanley Cup is the toughest thing to win,” he said. “I’ve won the Gagarin Cup twice in the KHL, I know what it takes. But in the NHL there are more regular-season games and all of the best players are playing here, so it's a big challenge. I was here for a long time and I know what it takes to get to the final, but I've never had a chance to raise the Cup. Now as I'm watching the Stanley Cup Final games you can see how important it is for the players and the fans. It's very exciting.”
Pierre LeBrun touched on the Rangers' rumor in his notebook column for The Athletic
He’s also a 35-and-over deal, which has CBA implications (the entire contract counts against the cap regardless of whether he plays out the deal) so no doubt teams would rather just have him on a one-year deal, but that’s not what (his agent J.P.) Barry of (CAA Sports) intends to get. It’s going to be at least two years, if not three.
As I wrote earlier this season and many others have also speculated, the New York Rangers are among the teams that make sense in one way. Having said that, Kovalchuk is coming back to win a Cup so he’ll have to weigh what New York is doing in terms of re-tooling against his desire to win now.
Signing Kovalchuk would have several benefits for the Rangers. First, he potentially would give them a sniper, which the team has lacked for almost forever, save for the season rick Nash potted 42 goals. Second, as Brooks noted and we have discussed, Kovy would be a draw for the Russian players in the organization, helping them ease into play in the US, while serving as a mentor and sounding board for those already in New York. Included in that latter list are Buchnevich, Vlad Namestnikov and Georgiev, while the former group are current SKA mates and projected future Rangers Shestyorkin and Rykov. Third, if the team was on a rebuild, at least they would have another veteran in the room, and per Broduer, a player who relished serving in that capacity.
On the flip side, Kovy hasn't played in the US for five years and will be 35-years old, so how much is truly left in the tank. Second, because he is over-35, if anything happens to him injury-wise that forces him to retire or his performance is well-below what his contract calls for salary-wise, his signing team is stuck with that cap hit regardless. Last, and this one most impacts the Rangers, do they meet the criteria of a contending team?
Right now, the answer is clearly no. Some pieces are here but the organization is at best a bit away from contending for a Cup. and that bit may be a gulf depending on the teams direction. What has to now be determined is does New York at all alter or modify their approach to attract Kovalchuk and is/was he truly one of the free agents at the top of his list? Plus, if John Tavares does re-up with the Islanders, will management be swayed by the concern that Kovalchuk will reunite with Lou Lamoriellio, the Islanders' new head of hockey operations, with who he reportedly had a good relationship with before going back to Russia?
I ask this to you:
1) Do you want Kovalchuk as a Ranger?
2) If so, for how many years and at what price point?
3) Would a three-year deal be a non-starter?
My answers are yes, 2 years at $5 mil or so and maybe, depending on the direction the team will follow. If truly a rebuild where it's a tear-down and build up, then no. If a retool, where the team will pursue a big-name free agent to supplement what is added in the draft and brought in at the trade deadline, then three years might be feasible. But that would reverting back to what New York did under Glen Sather all those years that didn't pan out.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»