Should The Red Wings Make A Play For Ilya Kovalchuk?
By Nick Seguin
6 years agoSince Elliott Friedman first mentioned Ilya Kovalchuk’s name on Hockey Night in Canada last week, speculation has been rampant about where he would land if he were to return to North American ice. Today, the Red Wings were one of the teams connected to his name.
My gut reaction to seeing this was to raise my eyebrows with intrigue. Kovalchuk was, after all, a first overall draft pick who scored 29 goals and 51 points in his 65 game rookie NHL season. Over the twelve years that he played in the NHL, Kovalchuk played 816 games and recorded 816 points, breaking the 50-goal barrier twice before the age of 25. He’s a right-handed power forward with an elite shot who can pretty much score from anywhere on the ice.
Once I processed all of that and moved on to his departure from the NHL, I quickly realized how bad of an idea signing him would be. First of all, after negotiating contract extensions with Tomas Tatar, Andreas Athanasiou, and Xavier Ouellet, there will be very little to no cap space to sign a player like Kovalchuk. Even if he’d be open to signing a value deal a la Thomas Vanek or Alex Radulov (as many have suggested), the Wings would have to work hard to fit him under the cap ceiling.
Second of all, earning the right to even talk to Kovalchuk will be a challenge. His rights belong to the New Jersey Devils, so he could sign and play for them no problem (in case you don’t know their history, here’s a recap). If he wants to play for any other team in the league, then all thirty NHL teams would have to approve it. Good luck getting New Jersey to approve that one.
The other way to do it is to work out a sign & trade with the Devils or trade for his rights. But that would require giving up assets, either present or future, for a 34-year-old winger who’s past his prime. Sure, Kovalchuk can still be an impact player in the NHL, but the Red Wings are not currently in a situation where they should be giving up assets. He is not the missing piece that, if inserted into the top line, will solve all of the team’s problems and lead them to a Stanley Cup. The only positive I see in bringing him in on a Vanek-like deal is to deal him at the deadline. Even then, though, we’re just breaking even. Trade picks at the start of the year to get him and receive picks at the end of the year to get rid of him.
We also need to look at this from Kovalchuk’s perspective. What would he find appealing about the Red Wings? They are a team on a downward trend who’s showing no signs of change from last year to this year. I know team management doesn’t like to use this word, but they are heading into a rebuild and you don’t start a rebuild by signing a 32-year-old veteran.
There’s no doubt in my mind that if Kovalchuk wants to return to the NHL, he’ll find a way, but if he’s going after a Cup, Detroit’s not even close to the top of his list. And he shouldn’t be on top of theirs, either.
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