Report: Kovalchuk To Montreal Or Toronto?

[jl-1]

The right price won't present itself. You know that. Why would Waddell give away Kovalchuk without milking the more he can ?

There's the problem quoted above! The right price does not mean giving away. You don't get a BMW for the price of a Focus!

[animerules1x3]

There's the problem quoted above! The right price does not mean giving away. You don't get a BMW for the price of a Focus!

Yeah, but the rental market is more like getting a BMW for the price of a BMW + another BMW. And for several months.

[Y-ASK-Y]

There has been lopsided trades in the past for STAR players, just to name a few, Luongo, Thornton, and gool 'ol Patrick Roy. So you never know.......

Personally, I could careless for Sundin, Kovalchuk, Gaborik, etc. I do agree a 4th Dman would be nice. AS for winning the Stanley Cup, it will all depend greatly on young Carey Price. Team can only go so far and needs him to be solid (obviously), as for offence, in the playoffs, a big star/sniper has not always gotten the most playoff goals or game winners.

The Sundins, Kovalchuks,Gaboriks, etc will not make or break this team. Sacrificing $$$, roster players, prospects, and draft picks probably won't break this team either but it definitely won't help and IMHO will hurt the Habs. That is, the POTENTIAL reward of signing the above players is not worth the RISK of the team the Habs have now and in the near future.

The Habs will will the Cup with the team they have as long as Carey Price is solid in net MOST OF THE TIME and when need. Which I have every confidence that he will.

[Guest ForeverGuyLafleur]

After we got Lang and rejected Sundin's waiting time, I thought we'd be over on the forwards issue.

I can't stand these rumors with big names among forwards (we already have Tanguay): the main concern should be involving someone to partner Hamrlik as neither O'Byrne (grrrrrrrr! ) nor Brisebois will make us more competitive at the back end in order to win the Cup. I would rather focus on the likes of François Beauchemin (Ducks seem to want Sundin and more attack punch, but have cap problems) or Matthias Ohlund (a matter of contract again).

[animerules1x3]

The Habs will will the Cup with the team they have as long as Carey Price is solid in net MOST OF THE TIME and when need. Which I have every confidence that he will.

Amen. I beliebe.

[RSD]

are all of you that hard-up for a cup?? the kostitsyns are part of the future of this team and yall would get rid of them and halak for a guy who will come here for a season or two max...no thanks...its more about chemistry than superstars...yall just trying to go the route the leafs did for years...sign big names, give away the young talent all for one glorious run...and then what?...13 years of mediocre play and gut the team?? no thanks...

[jl-1]

are all of you that hard-up for a cup?? the kostitsyns are part of the future of this team and yall would get rid of them and halak for a guy who will come here for a season or two max...no thanks...its more about chemistry than superstars...yall just trying to go the route the leafs did for years...sign big names, give away the young talent all for one glorious run...and then what?...13 years of mediocre play and gut the team?? no thanks...

Do you know something we don't know? What if he chose to re-sign with us?

[animerules1x3]

Do you know something we don't know? What if he chose to re-sign with us?

Penguins said that...

'' When you think you can control the hazard... you have a problem. There's help. ''

Lotto Quebec

[RSD]

Do you know something we don't know? What if he chose to re-sign with us?

and if he doesnt??...then we're out a backup and two wingers...when we have a good backup and good wingers who will only get better as they progress...it just makes no sense to make a trade like that give up so much for one year...id rather see a winning team built and kept around for more than one year...instead of trade away these 3 guys for this 1 power player for this year and well go from there...yeah we've seen where that leads...keep the team dont mess with the chemistry

[hockey_gal89]

and if he doesnt??...then we're out a backup and two wingers...when we have a good backup and good wingers who will only get better as they progress...it just makes no sense to make a trade like that give up so much for one year...id rather see a winning team built and kept around for more than one year...instead of trade away these 3 guys for this 1 power player for this year and well go from there...yeah we've seen where that leads...keep the team dont mess with the chemistry

Thank you! <edit: no need to insult others opinions - Graeme> In all honesty, I'm not worried about BG making any of these moves for 1 simple reason: Say BG offers Latendresse, S. Kostitsyn, MacDonaugh and a 1st for Kovalchuck...Theoretically speaking. The same thing will happen with Kovalchuck that happened with Hossa, another team will come along and out bid him and BG will take his hat out of the ring so to speak.

[CdnDollar_6]

A weekend rumor out of Montreal that the Canadiens had contacted the Thrashers about acquiring Kovalchuk?

“No truth to it,” Thrashers general manager Don Waddell said. “There was the same thing out of Toronto [on Saturday]. I haven’t talked to anybody, nor do I have any plans to talk to anybody. You see games like tonight’s, he’s a game breaker for you. He’s not going anywhere.”

Looks like we dont have to worry about losing any of our guys. Case closed.

[hockey_gal89]

A weekend rumor out of Montreal that the Canadiens had contacted the Thrashers about acquiring Kovalchuk?

“No truth to it,” Thrashers general manager Don Waddell said. “There was the same thing out of Toronto [on Saturday]. I haven’t talked to anybody, nor do I have any plans to talk to anybody. You see games like tonight’s, he’s a game breaker for you. He’s not going anywhere.”

Looks like we dont have to worry about losing any of our guys. Case closed.

Do you have a source for that quote? More to the point, a link?

[jl-1]

and if he doesnt??...then we're out a backup and two wingers...when we have a good backup and good wingers who will only get better as they progress...it just makes no sense to make a trade like that give up so much for one year...id rather see a winning team built and kept around for more than one year...instead of trade away these 3 guys for this 1 power player for this year and well go from there...yeah we've seen where that leads...keep the team dont mess with the chemistry

In your original post, you made it sound like it was a certainty that we wouldn't re-sign him. Many thought that Kovalev would never re-sign and we had a much worse team bad then. The key to any deal with Kovalchuk is that:

1. he's still young
2. he still has two years left to his contract
3. he's a natural goals' scorer, a true all-star in this league

[animerules1x3]

In your original post, you made it sound like it was a certainty that we wouldn't re-sign him. Many thought that Kovalev would never re-sign and we had a much worse team bad then. The key to any deal with Kovalchuk is that:

1. he's still young
2. he still has two years left to his contract
3. he's a natural goals' scorer, a true all-star in this league

There's also one more thing you consistenly ignore in your posts :

He would cost ALOT. And by a lot, I do not mean his true value, which is high. He will cost way more than that.

Whether you win the Kovalchuk lottery or not (whether he would re-sign or not), you will lose plenty to get him making a trade for him not so much a surefire gain as you make it sound.

In other words, if you win 20 000 $ in poker, but lose 50 000 $ to achieve that, then you're in the red, no matter the fact that you have 20 000 $ in your pockets to rave about.

[jl-1]

There's also one more thing you consistenly ignore in your posts :

He would cost ALOT.

I don't ignore it, I simply say that he'd be worth it.

[animerules1x3]

I don't ignore it, I simply say that he'd be worth it.

He'd be worth it if he was going to cost his value. But he'll cost more than his value. Just like Hossa. And therefore, he wouldn't be worth it.

[some-guy-pp1]

He'd be worth it if he was going to cost his value. But he'll cost more than his value. Just like Hossa. And therefore, he wouldn't be worth it.

The thing is, contrarily to many other teams, we can afford it even if it's more expensive than what he's worth. It's actually a good thing for us if we can get rid of some players (and their salaries) to get one of the best snipers and the league, and whatever spots we will have left, we can assign to prospects, who until now just didn't have any space available for them on the team.

I do, however, object that we trade very promising prospects for him (Kostitsyns for example). Send them Higgins, Dandenault, Latendresse, a first round choice and possibly more, but don't give them our top prospects.

[1stroundpick]

All this talk reminds me of when the Expos traded Randy Jhonson for Mark Langston.

[jl-1]

He'd be worth it if he was going to cost his value. But he'll cost more than his value. Just like Hossa. And therefore, he wouldn't be worth it.

His "value" is dictated by the market, not by you, not by me, but by what his "worth" is on the market. That's the simplest definition of "value". It's what one is ready to pay for him. So I'd say that Hossa's value was what Pittsburgh gave and the same would be said of Kovalchuk's value as it will be what someone will pay for him.

You may be underestimating his true value then.

[357908_1475251331]

i would add this about kovulchuk.

look at the goalie situation in atlanta- then think about making a pre-emptive strike against the teams that can offer a goalie of any repute. look at our situation with halak in for price, and at our goalie coach, and ask yourself how difficult it would be to make up any salary he is not worth, with what another team might benefit where we fail.

[animerules1x3]

His "value" is dictated by the market, not by you, not by me, but by what his "worth" is on the market. That's the simplest definition of "value". It's what one is ready to pay for him. So I'd say that Hossa's value was what Pittsburgh gave and the same would be said of Kovalchuk's value as it will be what someone will pay for him.

You may be underestimating his true value then.

Maybe. Or Shero overestimated Hossa's value. It can go both ways.

Kovalchuk is all excellent, but I wouldn't give 2 roster players. a top prospect and a 1st to get him. Especially when we score 4 goals per game regularly already.

Heck, I already expressed I wouldn't pay this much for a D-men which would do us more good at this point.

And with what we can learn from the Penguins' misfortune, our terrific depth can only go so far to help us.

For example, we have only 1 NHL-ready forward prospect, and that is D'Agostini. We can't create more than one hole on our top 9 without suffering too much from it.

[Bourne]

*watches the top 10 highlight video on NHL.com, specifically the number one click showcasing Kovalchuk's wicked goal*

And here we are debating if we should attempt to make a pitch for him, really?

[Habcup]

In your original post, you made it sound like it was a certainty that we wouldn't re-sign him. Many thought that Kovalev would never re-sign and we had a much worse team bad then. The key to any deal with Kovalchuk is that:

1. he's still young
2. he still has two years left to his contract
3. he's a natural goals' scorer, a true all-star in this league

I think our offense is good enough. If we do a trade it must be for a #4 D man. Trading the brothers plus ... for a player like Kovalchuck that is a superstar that is perceived to be somewhat of a head case is too much risk. The team has a good chemistry now and we already score a ton of goals.

[Habcup]

The thing is, contrarily to many other teams, we can afford it even if it's more expensive than what he's worth. It's actually a good thing for us if we can get rid of some players (and their salaries) to get one of the best snipers and the league, and whatever spots we will have left, we can assign to prospects, who until now just didn't have any space available for them on the team.

I do, however, object that we trade very promising prospects for him (Kostitsyns for example). Send them Higgins, Dandenault, Latendresse, a first round choice and possibly more, but don't give them our top prospects.

I agree! We have quantity and we can trade quantity for quality. My worry is that we tinker to much with our forward lines that are already one of the best in the league already. I'm thinking Kovatchuck could be a bad "match" to this team.

The quantity for quality that I would like to see is to get a top #4 dman.

[jordanjordan]

im starting to think that there isnt a single superstar out there that we would go after, not even malkin,crosby or ovechkin. The price would be too much any way we look at it. We might aswell just forget any rumours about a star player coming here through trade because we will never be willing to lose players to acquire them.

No matter what the trade is, there is always risk. sure things dont happen but one thing is for sure, either it works or it doesnt. If we dont make risks now, will there ever be a time to take risks? Kovalchuk might score 50+ goal seasons and win the cup for us OR he might not. Whoever we would trade for him, might make atlanta a powerhouse OR it might not.

Ex1: boston trading joe thornton for Wayne Primeau, Brad Stuart and Marco Sturm. Who won that deal so far?

San Jose!

Ex2: Quebec trading eric lindros for Chris Simon, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, Ron Hextall, Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, future considerations, round 1 pick in the 1994 draft, round 1 pick in the 1993 draft and cash.

who won that one?

Quebec!

Now could for example the kostitsyn's with mcdonagh and a 1st rounder be like ex1 or ex2? who knows! but they found out because they tried.

Finally IMO, im not up for trading for kovalchuk at the moment because i feel we dont need scoring, we need a top 4 d-man. But had this offer come to me the same time last year, this deal would of already been done. Thats if atlanta is actually indeed shopping kovy and it seems they arent.