I get why LA wouldn’t want any part of this, but I honestly don’t want any part of it as an Oil fan. Looch is obviously overpaid, but he is a major presence in the locker room and currently doing a stellar job on a checking line (just not worth anywhere near 6 million). The “identity” line he is a part of was the true catalyst for the Hitchcock “buy in” by the entire team. It’s led to winning hockey games. Kovalchuk is the antithesis to what we have going on right now.
The perceived benefit is that Kovy’s years remaining are 2 less than Looch, but that is precisely when Seattle comes in and becomes an option to dump Looch to (at a cost of course). At least with Looch we get some intangibles and the guarantee he’ll leave it all on the ice. With Kovy there’s no guarantee he’ll even be on NA ice.
Call me crazy, I prefer Looch over Kovy.