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Confirmed with Link: Kings announce signing kovalchuk to 3 year contract.

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Basilisk said:
Then Blake has about 5 days to trade him before he loses all value. Some team out there will ship over a 4th or 5th to get him.
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He has already lost his value. Any GM in the league can see the Kings are up against the CAP just by opening up CapFriendly. They know Blake is unlikely to QO him, so if they want him, they can sign him on July 1st as a UFA on likely better financial terms since his value has decreased somewhat. Why would they trade an asset when if they are interested they can have him without giving up any?
 
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We still have 3 mil left to play with this year barring trades. We have a decent looking roster and still room for improvements. So far so good this offseason. I love Dion but he is the one guy I would be pro active with and see if a team would be interested in him if we retained 1.25 mil. Dion at a 4 mil a year cap hit may interest some team.
 
Anyone nervous about this deal? Over 6 million for a 35 year old? The Gaborik contract was an anchor at 4-5 million and he was only one year older than Kovy. I get we haven’t seen Kovy in the NHL in a few years and Gaborik has gone down hill but still...
 
I would imagine everyone including our brass is nervous to some extent. I guess the next three years will tell the true tale. Lets hope for the best. One nice thing is we had a 35 year old Gaborik in a 45 year old body. It sounds like we are getting a 35 year old Kovy in a 30 year old body.
 
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I posted this before, but here's a list of players aged 35 or older who have scored 20+ goals over the past five seasons,
Player Season Finder | Hockey-Reference.com

Given Kovalchuk's pedigree, I don't think he's going to struggle to score 20 goals, which I know we're all used to seeing happen with every Kings winger. We're not used to seeing wingers score 30+ goals on this team, so I get the trepidation.

But seeing what Kopitar was able to do this season, rejuvenating Dustin Brown's career and his left wing being a rookie who scored 9 goals and 25 points, I don't think Kovalchuk's age is anything of concern. The guy is fit. His hands are still there, and he's not skating like Iginla or Lecavalier on their last legs.
 
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The Butcher said:
Look. I'm all for celebrating our newest King and having some renewed hope in the team.

But ignoring that he walked out on a signed contract and left the devils twisting in the wind is not something I'm willing to forget. I think how you carry yourself and honoring your agreements is a big part of being a successful person. This is the kind of thing im referring to when I mention character flaws, not points or his performance in the 2012 playoffs.

Bah, nobody seems to care. Whatever.
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Given the financial mess NJ were in, it could be viewed as mutually beneficial. I’ve read that NJ were ok with it, I don’t know If that is true but it certainly helped with selling the team as his deal was just hitting the max cash payments that were due, IIRC.
 
regulate said:
He has already lost his value. Any GM in the league can see the Kings are up against the CAP just by opening up CapFriendly. They know Blake is unlikely to QO him, so if they want him, they can sign him on July 1st as a UFA on likely better financial terms since his value has decreased somewhat. Why would they trade an asset when if they are interested they can have him without giving up any?
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Same reason a couple pending UFA's get traded. Someone might want early negotiation rights? Rieder isn't that great but he's still young. Someone might take a chance on it. And then someone else will own his RFA rights where they'll get compensation if he chooses not to sign with them and they qualify him.
 
Johnny Utah said:
Anyone nervous about this deal? Over 6 million for a 35 year old? The Gaborik contract was an anchor at 4-5 million and he was only one year older than Kovy. I get we haven’t seen Kovy in the NHL in a few years and Gaborik has gone down hill but still...
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In 2-3 years we'll have an inevitable rebuild. If it doesn't work out oh well, we tried.
 
Johnny Utah said:
Anyone nervous about this deal? Over 6 million for a 35 year old? The Gaborik contract was an anchor at 4-5 million and he was only one year older than Kovy. I get we haven’t seen Kovy in the NHL in a few years and Gaborik has gone down hill but still...
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Nah. Kovalchuk has been far more durable than Gaborik over the years. His two best seasons in the KHL were 16/17 and 17/18. Well over a point per game.

Judging by how elite players’ production tends to translate from KHL to NHL, we should be expecting AT LEAST 25 goals and 60 points from Kovalchuk.
 
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If Kopitar keeps up 85% of his play (and becomes a 80pt player next year), no reason to believe Kovalchuk can put ~70pts, if Dustin Brown could get 60...
 
Can we really compare stats from a league that Nigel Dawes is a leading scorer.

FYI - funny facts - on Nigel’s team this past year was Matt Fratin, Linden Vey and Kevin Dallman.
 
Johnny Utah said:
Can we really compare stats from a league that Nigel Dawes is a leading scorer.

FYI - funny facts - on Nigel’s team this past year was Matt Fratin, Linden Vey and Kevin Dallman.
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Yes, we can compare stats. Panarin, Radulov, and Jagr all saw stat decreases of roughly 15% when moving from the KHL back to the NHL.

There’s no reason to believe Kovalchuk won’t follow suit. He has been well over a point per game in the KHL.
 
SettlementRichie10 said:
That’s so hard to say, though. If Kovalchuk is a King in 10/11, do we ever fire Terry Murray a year later? Do we beat the Sharks in 2011? Lombardi still probably goes after Richards, but likely not Carter.

Really tough to say.
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I thought about this too. Do we still win the 2 Cups if Kovy signed with the Kings? By not signing him could've been the best thing that ever happened.
 
SettlementRichie10 said:
Yes, we can compare stats. Panarin, Radulov, and Jagr all saw stat decreases of roughly 15% when moving from the KHL back to the NHL.

There’s no reason to believe Kovalchuk won’t follow suit. He has been well over a point per game in the KHL.
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I mean we can even extrapolate his NHL stats, too. Even if he saw a production drop to merely 60% of his prime, he'd be a 25 goal, 55 point player. That's why I think those expectations are reasonable and anything else is gravy.
 
Johnny Utah said:
Can we really compare stats from a league that Nigel Dawes is a leading scorer.

FYI - funny facts - on Nigel’s team this past year was Matt Fratin, Linden Vey and Kevin Dallman.
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Kovalchuk chose to play in the KHL, those players are clinging to career survival.
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
I mean we can even extrapolate his NHL stats, too. Even if he saw a production drop to merely 60% of his prime, he'd be a 25 goal, 55 point player. That's why I think those expectations are reasonable and anything else is gravy.
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Agreed. If Kovalchuk is healthy, he will produce. It won’t be a Gaborik situation where he’s “healthy” but a shell of what he used to be.
 
Statto said:
Given the financial mess NJ were in, it could be viewed as mutually beneficial. I’ve read that NJ were ok with it, I don’t know If that is true but it certainly helped with selling the team as his deal was just hitting the max cash payments that were due, IIRC.
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It's certainly not true.
 
If Voynov comes back do we have to give him a new contract?

If so can't we just offer him 2 years/2M and say take it or leave it?
 
KingsHockey24 said:
If Voynov comes back do we have to give him a new contract?

If so can't we just offer him 2 years/2M and say take it or leave it?
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I mean they do hold all of the cards as far as his rights (in the event that he is reinstated), but it would be kind of a dick move to say "you're gonna play here or nowhere" unless they really want him, if they don't, they can just trade his rights to the east (Buffalo or something) and not deal with him.
 
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