The Blue Jackets have reportedly reached out to Ilya Kovalchuk to see if he is interested in coming to play in Columbus.
Normally this wouldn’t get commented on as most teams are very likely doing their due diligence with Kovalchuk, but this combined with Jarmo Kekalainen’s comments to Elliotte Firedman in
30 Thoughts and there could be something here.
When asked about what the Blue Jackets are looking for, Jarmo said “A sniper in the key moments.” He went on to add:
“You’re always looking for a No. 1 centre. Collectively we score enough, we’ve got firepower through all four lines. Cam Atkinson is our best scorer, but we need to finish with a better percentage. We’re going to look internally and externally.”
As a team the Jackets shot 9.7% in all situations, ranking 7th in the NHL. At 5 on 5 they were a little lower sitting in 10th place but still shot a very good 8.18%. When you see those numbers it seems a little odd to prioritize shooting percentage, but as we know SH% is volatile and can vary from season to season, and when you look at the teams ahead of the Jackets, they are all divisional foes. The Penguins, Rangers and Capitals all shot better in all situations than the Jackets, with the Islanders just one-tenth of a percentage point lower. At 5 on 5 all four teams were ahead. You couple that will the fact that the number one and two overall picks will be joining the division next season and you can see why the Jackets want to add more scoring punch.
The Jackets want someone who can score and Ilya Kovalchuk can score. From 2000-01 when Kovalchuk came into the league until 2012-13 when he left, he scored 417 goals, the second most in the NHL behind Jarome Iginla. He has a career 14.1% shooting percentage in 816 NHL games. He is a pure goal scorer through and though. He was obviously much younger when in the NHL, but at 34 years old he doesn’t look to be slowing down. He put up 78 points in 60 games in the KHL this past season, second in the league. Jonathan Willis of Sportsnet.ca looked at what Kovalchuk did in the KHL and found that he could
still be a first line player.
Kovalchuk would be an excellent fit on the Jackets. He would give them a legitimate top line forward and someone to go to when they need a late goal. He would fit alongside Alexander Wennberg very nicely and give the Jackets a real strong scoring line. He would also be a boon for the power play. The Jackets power play started hot and they were the best unit in the league for a while. They went ice cold after the streak ended and finished 12th in the league. Adding a player like Kovalchuk would help avoid that cold spell. The Jackets also have a spot open on the top power play unit with the expected departure of Sam Gagner.
Kovalchuk would be an excellent fit on the Jackets (or really any team) so the question becomes what would it take to get him? There are quite a few teams interested, notably the two New York teams, but it all comes down to who Kovalchuk wants to play for. If he is open to a large number of teams than the Devils can create a bidding war and drive the price all the way up. If it’s just a small select few of team then the price will be much lower. The other caveat here is that Kovalchuk is not eligible to be signed and traded until July 1st, which is after the entry draft, so teams looking to trade 2017 picks for Kovalchuk are out of luck.
Another thing here is that the Devils and Jackets play in the same division. You would imagine the Devils would not want to deal him in-division and if they do you expect that team to pay a premium. These two teams have worked together before on the Kyle Quincey-Dalton Prout deal. While that is a much smaller deal than what they would be dealing with here, there is at least a history.
Trading for Kovalchuk is one thing, but once you get him you need to sign him. The Jackets cap gets talked about a lot but I don't see it as much of an issue. They have a little under 3M right now per
Cap Friendly and that is without using any LTIR. The Jackets have one big RFA to re-sign in Wennberg but everyone else should come cheaply. Once they get Wennberg signed they could put David Clarkson on the LTIR giving them the space they would need to sign Kovalchuk.
For more information on the Kovalchuk sweepstakes, I would recommend reading the work by fellow HockeyBuzz writer Todd Cordell. He has been covering this from the start and has written many pieces commenting on the rumours surrounding Kovalchuk.
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