Contract Termination: Ilya Kovalchuk

[Reaper45]

The Kings are literally last place/2nd to last place all season. Let's not be delusional, their current coach is clueless and the team is bad/horrible.

Kovalchuk will do a lot better on a team that is actually competent and plays him fairly.

Sounds like you're the only clueless one.

 

[inthe6ix]

I dont see how it can, 35+ or not it's a mutual termination. Guess we'll see.

he received his bonus of 2.65M on Sunday with only 700k remaining this season, however the 6.25 cap hit is still counted against the Kings cap for the next two years if his contract is terminated

The Kings remain with his $6.25-M cap hit this season and next, because he's a 35-and-over player. But they would no longer have to pay him in real life. Kovalchuk's remaining $2.65-M bonus was paid over the weekend. He has $4.25 M in salary next yr but will walk away from that
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 16, 2019​

​

 

[Balance]

Sounds like you're the only clueless one.

lol We'll see with Kovy on a team that isn't a total joke. Stay clueless.

 

[go4hockey]

The Kings are literally last place/2nd to last place all season. Let's not be delusional, their current coach is clueless and the team is bad/horrible.

Kovalchuk will do a lot better on a team that is actually competent and plays him fairly.

Your comments show that you watch ZERO Kings games. My comments had nothing to do with Kovalchuk rather your clueless comments.

 

[Terry Yake]

hope atlanta brings him back

 

[Reaper45]

lol We'll see with Kovy on a team that isn't a total joke. Stay clueless.

Let's see if he signs anywhere first of all. Hes a trainwreck defensively. Doesnt matter where he signs hes still going to be a trainwreck on d. Can he put up more points? Probably. It is the coaches fault? Last year I wouldve said yes, Desjardins was the worst coach I've ever seen. This year I cant blame coaching.

 

[Fallschirmyager]

Capitals should give Kovalchuk a chance. Of course he would have to be put in a limited role, but I feel like he could do some damage with that skilled offense.

Absolutely not. If for no other reason than the team is playing well and messing with that chemistry on an experiment is just a poor choice.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

I hear Russia is nice this time of year. Let him go back there.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I'm still of the belief that some NHL team can find some use for him somewhere. The Kings are a godamn mess and at his age why bother playing for a shit team. Bruins could really use another scoring winger and with how they play as a team I could see Kovy elevate his level.

I feel like I should know this but if he gets another contract from another team does that wipe out the one terminated by the Kings?

 

[kilowatt]

I'm still of the belief that some NHL team can find some use for him somewhere. The Kings are a godamn mess and at his age why bother playing for a **** team. Bruins could really use another scoring winger and with how they play as a team I could see Kovy elevate his level.

I feel like I should know this but if he gets another contract from another team does that wipe out the one terminated by the Kings?

What do you mean “wipe out”? Kings are on the hook for his cap hit through next year no matter what.

For the record, I don’t think there are any Kings fans that didn’t like Kovalchuk. It just straight up didn’t work. And to put 0% of the blame on him is unfair, and to put 0% of the blame on LA is unfair. No Kings fans that I’ve read or spoken to wish him any ill will whatsoever. We just hope he doesn’t succeed with the Sharks or Ducks. Other than that, he was by all accounts a great teammate off the ice. Nothing else to say really. Hope someone picks him up and shelters him defensively. I think he could still put up 20+ goals.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Good bye, Old Molasses

 

[AMDZen]

Let's see if he signs anywhere first of all. Hes a trainwreck defensively. Doesnt matter where he signs hes still going to be a trainwreck on d. Can he put up more points? Probably. It is the coaches fault? Last year I wouldve said yes, Desjardins was the worst coach I've ever seen. This year I cant blame coaching.

These two things are not mutually exclusive. Both things can be true. Kings are bad, Kovy probably won't bring meaningful impact to anyone else.

The Kings are still everything Balance described them as. The team is just not good at all and Kovy is a personification of the kings. Old, washed up and needs to be put on the shelf. Kings have an abundance of players like that, so it makes sense that you get rid of one of these and move on. But I also agree with you that Kovy probably won't be in the NHL this season and if he is, won't be a positive.

You're both right about some of it

 

[Atas2000]

How bad was he that LA didn't want him on the team even though he was putting up 0.5 points/game?

The question is how bad LA is as an org. Recently they have had so many wrongs in the system. Not being able to implement a still capable former great is one of those.

 

[KingsHockey24]

He still skates well, and has great hands but if you're not giving him top six minutes he won't be productive and will only hurt your team.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

He still skates well, and has great hands but if you're not giving him top six minutes he won't be productive and will only hurt your team.

He could produce on a stacked team, but must be sheltered AF indeed.

 

[Yog S'loth]

A lot of sour grapes in this thread.

The truth is that us fans don't actually know what really went on behind the scenes. Every interview with someone in the Kings' organization we've ever heard has his coaches and teammates singing his praises as person and a teammate.

He didn't play very well, but he wasn't as bad as some Kings want to pretend in order to emotionally justify the failure of the experiment.

Something just went sideways somehow, nobody with actual knowledge will really talk about it, and everybody is just shaking hands and moving on.

 

[780il]

Pick him up and try him with Mcdavid. Worth a shot. If anything that one-t would do wonders for the power play.

 

[Lacoste]

He was brought in to score points.

Considering he came from the KHL and is way past his prime he did pretty well.

Like was said earlier: not a lot of leeway for Russians in the NHL. It’s 2019 but not a lot has changed it seems.

In 2018 Winter Olympics Kovi was the best player. And just in 1 year he is so bad? He just not fit in LA system.

 

[Nedarb]

In 2018 Winter Olympics Kovi was the best player. And just in 1 year he is so bad? He just not fit in LA system.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe he started last season with 18 points in 18 games until the coaching change kicked in. I believe he still has the fire power to make a difference. It’s wether someone wants to weather the storm in the other end while he’s on the ice.

 

[kp61c]

amazing how many defenders kovalchuk has. some people just have no clue whatsoever. i hope they will get their wishes fulfilled and get an opportunity to cheer for him playing on their favorite team.

 

[Sparky206]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe he started last season with 18 points in 18 games until the coaching change kicked in. I believe he still has the fire power to make a difference. It’s wether someone wants to weather the storm in the other end while he’s on the ice.

He is still capable of putting up good numbers, no one questions that, its just do you want to take the pain defensively.

If he comes in and scores 0.5ppg but your GGA goes up 0.75 is it really a good pickup?

 

[General Disarray]

Why are they allowed to terminate his contract? Why didn't teams terminate Erikson/Lucic/etc contract?

 

[vHAB]

Why are they allowed to terminate his contract? Why didn't teams terminate Erikson/Lucic/etc contract?

It's a mutual termination. The player had to agree to it as well. In most cases the player won't agree to terminate the contract as that means leaving money on the table.

 

[greasysnapper]

Why are they allowed to terminate his contract? Why didn't teams terminate Erikson/Lucic/etc contract?

The players wouldn't do that. There's not a chance Eriksson or Lucic would ever make that kind of money again.

 

[The Lewler]

I'm gonna say his only possible acceptable landing spots will be Florida or Washington.