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Report: St. Louis Blues Inquire About Alex Kovalev

December 12, 2010, 1:26 AM ET [ Comments]
Travis Yost
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According to multiple reports on Saturday night, an inquiry has been made about the availability of Alex Kovalev by the St. Louis Blues, as originally reported by Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun and confirmed by ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.

How desperate does a team have to be to kick the tires on a talented but mercurial forward who has made a career off of a lot of flash and very little substance? Quite a bit. Yet, the St. Louis Blues have been forced into an ultimately precarious position of fielding a potential playoff team that's incredibly banged up - McDonald, Perron, Oshie, and Polak are all nursing injuries right now - and in today's NHL, the window of opportunity is minuscule.

Garrioch points to the fact that the St. Louis Blues will not be making any moves in all probability until their ownership problems are settled, which should come at the turn of the new year. There's an alleged investor ready to pour money into the franchise, and the added funds could make the difference in taking a chance on a top-six winger like Kovalev.

LeBrun confirmed Garrioch's original report on the Hot Stove, saying that an inquiry had been made sometime after Kovalev had some choice words about his reduction in ice time to the media. Kovalev's implicit jab to the coaching staff ironically prompted his return to the top-six against New Jersey on Friday, but no one knows how long that will last.

Obviously, this prompts the question as to who the Ottawa Senators would be looking at should they move Kovalev. Unfortunately, Ottawa's not really in a position of power in terms of bargaining, as the thought of unloading Kovalev two weeks ago to another team seemed nothing more than a pipedream. He's got a decent amount of points, but a hefty price tag will keep some teams away, and if Ottawa's ready to unload, it could be for a prospect and/or draft picks. Senators fans shouldn't get their hopes up, here - trades are all about leverage, and with Alex Kovalev, Ottawa has very little.

It was just a few months ago that the Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues made a big trade in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft, where the Blues acquired the Ottawa Senators first round pick in order to draft Vladimir Tarasenko. In return, the Senators grabbed young prospect David Rundblad, The relationship between Bryan Murray and Doug Armstrong is considered amiable, so it's not a real surprise for the two to be fielding calls this early in the season.
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