Kovalchuk dealt to New Jersey in sad, expected ending
Here's Ilya Kovalchuk going against the Devils' Johnny Oduya. Just switch the uniforms now.
This is generally how these things end. A star goes one way. A large package of some undetermined substance and quality goes the other.
This isn’t a new practice with the Thrashers, just an evolving one. The names keep getting bigger. Dealing Ray Ferraro and Jiri Slegr in the early days came with limited blowback. They were late in their careers. But then another impending free agent, Donald Audette, couldn’t come to terms and was traded to Montreal for an obscure prospect named Kamil Piros. (Unfortunate early analysis from then-coach Curt Fraser: “The greatest player in Czechoslovakia.”). Then Marian Hossa wouldn’t re-sign and was dealt to Pittsburgh.
Now it’s Ilya Kovalchuk’s turn.
This isn’t just a trend any more. It’s a disturbing franchise trait, with no sign of change in sight.
Kovalchuk was traded Thursday night to New Jersey. His exit was predictable since last season, when the team struggled (again), failed to amend for past mistakes (again), failed to accurately gauge the market (again) and in the end was forced to desperately deal him for another questionable package of players and prospects. It’s a nice trade-up for Kovalchuk. He goes from a franchise that has never won a playoff game to one that has won three Stanley Cups, four conference championships and nine division titles since 1994-95.
Lou Lamoriello, the Devils’ general manager, doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. Don Waddell? He has been the architect of disaster central in Atlanta since Day 1. Anybody want to venture how this one turns out?
“I don’t think it sets us back at all,” Waddell said after the deal. “I think it moves us forward.”
Yes. He really said that.
It’s another quantity-for-quality trade. That’s the way these things work. The Devils get Kovalchuk, Atlanta’s all-time leading scorer (328 goals, 615 points, in 594 games) and defenseman Anssi Salmela. The Thrashers get right wing Niclas Bergfors, defenseman Johnny Oduya, troubled prospect Patrice Cormier and a first-round draft pick. The teams also will swap second-round draft picks.
Bergfors? A nice young player, hardly a star (27 points in 54 games). Oduya? A solid puck-moving defenseman. Cormier? A train wreck. He elbowed a player in the Quebec juniors, sending himto the hospital, and has been suspended for the season. The No. 1 pick? Maybe this one works out. And stays.
At least Waddell didn’t slam Kovalchuk going out the door. He was given a chance to say Kovalchuk only cares about money. Instead, he reiterated what Kovalchuk has been saying all along (the screams of short-sighted critics notwithstanding): “I think, Kovy right to the last day, wanted to be a Thrasher. But it’s a business decision.”
Waddell knew he would get slammed for this. Earlier Thursday, in hopes of swaying public opinion, he released a statement including some of the team’s contract offers to Kovalchuk. But the offers — $70 million over seven years ($10 million per year) and $101 million for 12 years ($8.42 average) — already had appeared in Wednesday’s Journal-Constitution. So his intended thunder was muted.
It never should have come to this. Kovalchuk is one of the NHL’s few elite players and has been since he entered the league in 2001. He’s on pace to score 40-plus goals for the sixth consecutive season. That’s a rare commodity in the NHL. But he has been frustrated by the team’s lack of success. The Thrashers have reached the postseason once. Attendance has declined. Concern over the club’s future fed into Kovalchuk’s desire to ask for the maximum salary allowed by the collective bargaining agreement: $11.3 million per season for 10 to 12 years. He asked for the only thing he felt he could control, and he had the leverage of unrestricted free agency. Unless he immediately signs an extension with the Devils, Kovalchuk will become the highest-profile unrestricted free agent in his prime in NHL history.
It’s another ugly ending. Two years ago, it was Hossa. He went to Pittsburgh, and the Thrashers celebrated the package they got back. But look at it now: Colby Armstrong (third-line winger, impending free agent), Erik Christensen (washed out), Angelo Esposito (flawed prospect) a No. 1 pick (Daultan Leveille, Michigan State).
Maybe this deal turns out better. But history tells us otherwise. Another star was just shipped out of town. This is where we came in.
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453 comments Add your comment
Eileen
February 4th, 2010
11:14 pm
Sweet Lou, your comments about attendance are spot on.
Matt
February 4th, 2010
11:16 pm
Don Waddell, the absolute KING of the asinine comment.
c.j.
February 4th, 2010
11:18 pm
How can Florida get to a Cup, Tampa Bay win one, and Carolina win one?
WTF Atlanta, WTF!
30-24 Dawgs Run This State!
February 4th, 2010
11:19 pm
The Thrashers are now dead to me.
Shame on you Waddell!
vinny
February 4th, 2010
11:22 pm
Why blame waddell? Kovy made it clear he wasn’t interested in staying. The cap will go down next year. Waddell got what he could. Not many teams are profitable enough to send that kind of dough. NJ will see what happens in the playoffs then see what happens in the off season.
It hard to sign players when you get 3000 fans at $10 bucks each.
I believe in Sweet Lou
February 4th, 2010
11:22 pm
Eileen I hate to say it to you guys but it has to be said. I don’t want to hear crap about freakin’ ownership or the GM being bad because you would support a winning team. I hear that all the time from other Sun Belt teams. But your team has been in the chase this year and as of right now you are about 2 points out of it. If you can’t support a team that is 2 points out of the playoffs you don’t deserve Kovalchuk.
c.j.
February 4th, 2010
11:22 pm
This just in. Undisclosed in the trade was Thrash the Mascot for two experienced beer vendors.
Steve Johnstone
February 4th, 2010
11:23 pm
Cormier is a criminal and should be banned from the NHL. I will not support the Thrashers if they let him play. Is this an example of the ‘new image for the Thrashers’ Don????
CJ
February 4th, 2010
11:24 pm
Apparently the deal for the arena with Philips calls for it to have two sports teams occupying through the life of that deal…that deal is up in 2015-16…after that I’m pretty sure it’s either Hamilton, Kansas City, or contraction…it would have killed me to think the Thrashers would leave a few years ago, Ownership and Waddell has driven me to a point of numbness never before seen…
c.j.
February 4th, 2010
11:25 pm
Hey I Believe in Sweet Lou,
see my comment above,
Tampa Bay, with one Cup
Carolina, with one Cup
Florida, with one Cup appearance
and Atlanta? bent over once again
Pat
February 4th, 2010
11:28 pm
Why did Atlanta pursue a NHL franchise in the first place? How blatently dumb can you be? NOBODY CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stevens for Prez
February 4th, 2010
11:28 pm
Sweet Lou nails it on the head. If you can’t support a team that is 2 points out of the playoffs you don’t deserve Kovalchuk.
eric bure
February 4th, 2010
11:30 pm
game over man game over. Just like minnesota sports teams but not as bad. EX. Moss, Gabby, KG, Rolston
CJ
February 4th, 2010
11:32 pm
LOL @ NJ fans giving lessons on being a good fan and who deserves good players…step away from the keyboard, Vinny
Praveen
February 4th, 2010
11:33 pm
The local sports news in Atlanta sucks. I know that they dont care about NHL in the media, but for them to give short shrift to covering the trade of the biggest player the Thrashers ever had is ridiculous. On 11 News, they had the Ga Tech score precede the Kovy trade in the teaser, and there was not one bit of analysis of the trade in the sports segment. Horrible.
Fred Kalil was reporting it like it was just another routine bit of sports news.
Mike
February 4th, 2010
11:34 pm
Not fond of hockey too many white guys
Caps Rule
February 4th, 2010
11:37 pm
You Trasher fans do not get it. Kovy was greedy – period. He thinks he is Ovechkin and he simply is not. $100M for 12 years was a fair deal and DW, as dumb as he can be, was smart to send Kovy packing. Kovy was gone after April anyway and DW got something instead of nothing. The sad part is that Trasher Hockey is a first and only a business. The blame on this is Kovy and only on Kovy, everyone else had to react to Kovy’s greed. The only other play DW had was to sit and watch as Kovy did not get the deal done as he wished it to be (Max Ceiling Money) and hope Kovy would crawl back (something a Captain does not do).
Say what you want, this is the scoreboard and the scoreboard does not lie.
I believe in Sweet Lou
February 4th, 2010
11:39 pm
@c.j. 11:25pm those are all one year wonders outside of Carolina who makes a big run one year and is in last place this year. But that has nothing to do with support for the team. We are the castoffs of the tri-state area that supports 3 teams and gets more fans than you do. What has Florida done since that appearance in the finals? Nothing except lose Bouwmeester. Carolina is great one year but goes to last place the following year. The Lightning are in all sorts of financial trouble and couldn’t hold onto Brad Richards or Dan Boyle. When you can come out to the games and support your team you won’t lose out on big name guys like Kovalchuk. We have to compete with the freakin Rangers and yet have better numbers than you do. We also have a smaller arena so our averages are way down. Show up to the games and you’d be surprised what happens.
Bobby Buttox
February 4th, 2010
11:41 pm
I just want to say how much Phillips arena S U C K S! Everything! management, people, food. That place is a curse. What else would you expect from downtown A-T-L?
Build a new arena north of Atlanta and more people will go to the games.
alphadawg
February 4th, 2010
11:42 pm
Mike – what kind of a dumb comment is that??
Put Waddell on a bus out of this town. Put the For Sale sign on the front door know and get the heavily dispirited Spirit Group out while we can.
Please let the housecleaning that needs to happen at the Thrashers front office begin now and not stop til we have new management that understands how to run a hockey franchise in a first class town.
Caps Rule
February 4th, 2010
11:44 pm
The Devils made a good move – it should make the race for #1 in the Conference a bit more interesting – unless the Caps keep winning. The big question will be the playoffs and Kovy does not have the experience in winning the cup. This is a trade the Devils needed last year but still, it’s good move and it should make Devils-Caps games even more interesting.
I believe in Sweet Lou
February 4th, 2010
11:44 pm
LOL @ Atlanta fans talking trash about NJ fans when we just stole your prized player…step away from the keyboard CJ.
confused
February 4th, 2010
11:47 pm
I think Mike maybe onto something as to why Atlanta will never be a hockey town.
Brendan
February 4th, 2010
11:48 pm
Matt, The Brave: You know another GM had be found for less than 900K a year. Scour the Assistant GM’s. Scour the AHL GM’s. They want their shot, somewhere. This GM hasn’t been worth a third of his paycheck since 2002. Yet someone, it’s the “right move” to keep him. By the way, Forbes Magazine says Don Waddell’s contract expires in 2010. Didn’t say which month. Might be April. Might be June. I don’t know. But if that man is still in charge, then there’s no hope for this franchise.
Boom, Boom still rules: Thanks. And I see your point.
SEA: I respect where you’re going with that argument. If I can follow it to its logical conclusion, if the franchise sold more tickets, it’d have more revenue, and could theoretically spend more money on players.
Nice theory. But the practical reality is, whether due to the lawsuit or general apathy, this franchise hasn’t spend what it otherwise could have, or should have. It’s operated on the cheap, for whatever the reason. I have something close to ZERO confidence in this group … when they say they’re going to go out and sign free agents. How’d that Brian Campbell negotiation go? Was Hossa interested in staying with this franchise? Shoot even Kovy, here 8 years, settled in a MAGNIFICENT Atlanta HOME, had seen enough. This ownership just plain, flatout, doesn’t know what it’s doing. There’s just no sugarcoating that.
SEA: I just cannot accept … that “a lack of fan support/attendance” was the reason he forced his way out of town. The real reason is … that this franchise is ineptly run. And truthfully, Kovy didn’t see a Stanley Cup coming from this ownership/management team over the next 7, 10, or 12 years. That’s the reason, not lack of attendance, that Kovalchuk wouldn’t re-sign. Who wants to commit to a team that crosses the road, blind-folded? Think about it, SEA. If 6,000 fans showed up, but the team were 60-20-2, Kovy would stay. The goal is to win. Bottom line: Kovy had no faith in the AS, LLC, who continued to employ Waddell, the lone architect of 1 playoff berth, zero playoff wins, through nine (9) completed season. How does one expect the Kovalchuk camp to simply IGNORE that? To ignore that Hartley wasn’t fired in 2007, after the playoff sweep. How does one expect the Kovalchuk camp to IGNORE that Hossa LEFT???? And was replaced by Eric Perrin and Todd White!! How does one expect the Kovalchuk camp … to simply ignore that Waddell came down to coach the team for 76-games in 2008. Kovy told his agent, “Make sure we’re outta here by 2010.” Mission Accomplished for Kovy, whose phone rang off the hook tonight.
The callers? Marc Savard: “Hi Kovy. Man, sorry we couldn’t have hooked up in Boston. Best of luck in Jersey.” Dany Heatley: “Told ya, bro. Your sentence in Atlanta would be more than mine. But you’re out with ‘time served.’” Marian Hossa: “Hi Kovy. I know we weren’t the best of friends. But I’m here to tell you … that there’s life after Atlanta. The air smells fresher. The water tastes sweeter. Even the ice seems better underneath your skates. Welcome to the world of POSSIBILITIES, Ilya. Congrats to you. You did the right thing by leaving.”
CJ
February 4th, 2010
11:50 pm
@Bobby…what evidence do you have that guarantees better results north of the city…And exactly what is it that you hate so much about downtown. It’s okay, you can tell the truth, its only the internet, no one will be able to punch you when you inevitably say something offensive….
Oh, and @Sweet Lou…when we show up to the games we’ll see the same thing we always do…a subpar product. We have options here in this city, once you’ve been offended enough you learn to explore your options.
Tincup9
February 4th, 2010
11:50 pm
Forrest Gump is our GM
Dubious
February 4th, 2010
11:51 pm
Remember—the two finalists for the GM job in 1998 were Don Waddell and Brain Burke. Harvey Schiller made the final decision I recall. Burke has won a Stanley Cup at Anaheim and had good years at Vancouver. How things might have been different.
CJ
February 5th, 2010
12:02 am
Oh Sweet Lou…the difference is if this were anything else this city this theft that you speak of would be as tragic for us as it is euphoric for you but, real talk, hockey is a DISTANT fourth as far as citizen attention in this town. So while Kovy leaving bites, it’s really only going to resonate a few weeks outside of the hockey hardcore in the metro area. Up until last year I did 30-35 games a year, even so this is a shrugger for me because the org is SO poorly run, it was to be expected. I understand, though, the glory you feel in the frozen tundra of your rental victory, what else is there to glory in in Newark?
Brendan
February 5th, 2010
12:03 am
Dubious: Wow. Harvey Schiller. What a dufous! His legacy lives on, though.
A,S
February 5th, 2010
12:03 am
Dear Don Waddell and Thrashers co.
Leavers Atlanta. You are no longer wanted.
I believe in Sweet Lou
February 5th, 2010
12:04 am
@CJ 11:50pm – Subpar product? You are 2 points out of the playoffs and were in the playoffs for a good chunk of the season. That is not subpar that is a city that doesn’t appreciate hockey. Oh and by the way in the metropolitan area we have this little known city called New York I think it has 10x if not 100x the options that your hicktown has. Go ahead tell us how Atlanta has more options than New York City.
thethird
February 5th, 2010
12:04 am
28 other nhl teams r kickin themselves thinking we coulda had him if thats all it took
NJ Lou should b arrested for child abuse after treatin DW like t
Give me a break
February 5th, 2010
12:06 am
Awesome, love how you guys have my comments pulled down…cold hard truth fellas, guess it hurts you too much; gotta keep throwing up CR*P on this page. Get on with your greed, and join Kovy in the NJ wasteland, or sit back and think how ridiculous you are for wanting the GM fired for not paying the highest contract in NHL history for someone that won’t provide more than about ten ESPN Top 10 Plays a year and NO TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS. TEAM…oh wait, forgot you’re all Leons, “ain’t no I either”, just born losers. Too funny…
WTF
February 5th, 2010
12:07 am
I echo WTF2, where’s the loyalty in the era of $. Gone. It’s not Kovy’s fault.How do you build a franchise? Heatley & Kovalchuck, and a dash of Hossa. (oh its too hard to keep them) That’s a franchise, that’s a winner, that’s not the Atlanta (non) Spirit. Obviously their focus is all on the Hawks and not hockey. Lower payroll more attractive buying point for some city with an ownership that gives an damn for their fans. Does ASG not have a business clue? Yes, they do sell the Thrashers to anyone who’ll buy.
We are trying to sell a PeeWee(insert Bantam, High School, ECHL, AHL, etc) product on an NHL ticket price. Give me an AHL team and I am back as a season ticket holder.
Thought you would just give me a break
February 5th, 2010
12:10 am
Wow, just write me out, you guys need a grip…are you all P’Diddy and Mase fans…seeing as how the only thing anyone here seems to care about is CREAM…like a bunch a throwbacks. Forget about caring for anyone around you and having a little pride, just go be THAT guy…Nice move Waddell, it’s time for a gut check around here…
Mike in Savannah
February 5th, 2010
12:12 am
And to all those who are blaming the fans…. we have had to put up with this crap for 10 years now. They put a crap product on the ice year in and year out. We are sick of losing some of the best talent on the team every season. Fans have been in the seats in years prior, but we knew is was going to come to this… the team plays hard and barely misses the playoffs or they suck one big time at the end of the year and miss again. All because of the $hitty product on the ice…. So yes, I blame the GM… not myself as a fan who has attended a few games despite the fact that I was laid off work and am currently unemployed and just as broke as Detroit. So don’t come in here and say this is the fans’ fault…
CJ
February 5th, 2010
12:13 am
Lou, my friend, you’re thinking in very small terms…you’re looking at a singular year. Kovy’s decision not to re-up with the Thrashers is not about this year, my presumption is that its about the collective experience with this team and this group. For ten years we have heard excuses and been faced with pretty bad hockey on the ice and the experience around it. You know nothing of that because for the last decade and a half the Devils have been, well, good.
As far as your hicktown comment, I’ll let you have it and having spent time in the NYC area for my job on several occasions I’ll say the options are limitless…what I was saying before your NY area ego decided to take offense is that the average citizen doesn’t live and die with pro sports like the citizens of most northern cities. Most choose to explore OUR options rather than support that which depresses. Get it now or do you need the Fisher Price version?
Praveen
February 5th, 2010
12:13 am
Let’s see if Kovy is good enough to sell out that arena in NJ. NJ has a much superior team management compared to Atl, but even that is not good enough to sell out their arena consistently. NJ is not much more of a hockey region than Atlanta at this point.
So, let’s examine the last two blockbuster trades. Dupuis and Colby Armstrong are effectively a wash maybe with a slight edge to Colby though Dupuis has been great this year. So Waddell got Christiansen and Esposito for Hossa.
Now , with Kovalchuk, he got 3 decent players. But NJ has no problem getting decent players, so it’s like they gave up nothing because they will find players just as good easily in the offseason or via the draft. If Atl had good management, they wouldn’t be wasting such trades on “decent” players. Not one impact player in the two trades. Amazing.
I believe in Sweet Lou
February 5th, 2010
12:15 am
@CJ 12:02am – are you arguing against me or for me? Telling me that hockey is a distant 4th in your town only backs up what I already said. Take cheap shots at Newark if you like it doesn’t bother me cuz you don’t understand the metro area and its hockey fans. As for our rental victory you don’t know crap about hockey otherwise you would know how many cups we won recently. But thank you for reminding me that we are the team renting players and you are the city on the wrong side of the great train robbery. Finally the frozen tundra comment could you please tell me what type of surface the sport of hockey is played on?
opinionator
February 5th, 2010
12:17 am
I smelled this coming when Hossa got away and Don kept his nice office. I thought they should have brought in a proven, gutsy GM like Neil Smith to turn it up quickly on personnel and prevent the exodus of another superstar in Ilya. Think of it…we’ve had three major scorers here, what expansion team could ever say that this early in their history. But we’ve had nothing else. The hardest thing to find is big scoring…we just keep letting it slip away.
Neil Smith is still out there, Spirit…now there’s no excuse, the fans are outraged.
Stuart
February 5th, 2010
12:18 am
Who does Don Waddell have the dirt on? How can this complete boob keep his job? 1 playoff appearance in TEN FREAKIN” YEARS
Fed Up
February 5th, 2010
12:19 am
Let’s see, hmmmm, $8.5 million or $10 million, see you later Atlanta, you can’t win, and if I can’t win I want $10 million, better yet, I’ll get my $10 million and still win…hello Devils, you kind of remind me of myself, oh wait, did I just say that out loud, da** inner-monologue…Hey everyone, let’s blame the GM, because why would we ever blame anyone else, like an overpaid player, that’s just silly…
Stuart
February 5th, 2010
12:20 am
Don Waddell is dead to the city of Atlanta. He has singlehandedly destroyed hockey in Atlanta. If that idiot is the GM next year then I hope the Thrashers lose every single game until he’s gone. A complete moron.
uga-brave
February 5th, 2010
12:20 am
This is the end of the Atlanta franchise. They have no players to build the team against. Getting so-so players for one of the best in the league does not put butts in the stands. The ownership and Waddell need to get a grasp on what makes a franchise. It’s not selling your best players year after year. Why do I want to go to the game on Saturday with this mindset (unfortunately I already bought my tickets)?
I believe in Sweet Lou
February 5th, 2010
12:21 am
@CJ 12:13am – if you are going to make the argument that you don’t live and die by your sports team it would help if you weren’t making the comment on a sports blog after 12 oclock in the morning. Just because we support hockey instead of nascar doesn’t mean you could talk trash to us about only being focused on hockey. If you can’t handle it go explore some options now and get off the freakin hockey blog.
upnorth_thrasher
February 5th, 2010
12:23 am
Don’t kid yourself Thrasher Fans, there is not a franchise in the NHL that can afford Kovie at the price he is asking, especially not the Devils, they freed up what…. 1.4 million with the trade and have how many millions in Brodeur and Elias, come on this is a “rental” scenario. Sure we give up 20 goals but pickup a solid skating defense man and good twoway player in Bergfors (he has 13 goals). This is a good deal. If Kovie takes a “discount” and resigns then maybe Thrasher fans lose out. I doubt it will happen. KHL here he comes. Chase the dollars and not the Cups!!! Real “Captains” do not abandon the ship!!! No matter how rough the WATERS!!!! DW did a good job today.
Fed Up
February 5th, 2010
12:26 am
It’s “how many cups we’ve (could also use “we have”) won recently” Just thought Lou might want that one in the pocket for later. Grammar rocks. So we’ve got a head case that never panned out, a guy that just can’t live here anymore b/c of the accident (someone just coughed b/s, cause it was all about money), a free agent mercenary (who was all about money), and a 10 year man who decided “what the he-hockey sticks”, its all about money…Notice the resemblance…dimensia, no wait that was just P. Stef…
Mike in Savannah
February 5th, 2010
12:27 am
Oh and Sweet Lou, how do you explain to fans that you have traded your number 1 player when you are only 2 points out of the playoff race? Like I said, year after year for 10 straight and counting now….
CJ
February 5th, 2010
12:30 am
Lou…this has been fun but you’re obviously not capable of linear thought so I’m going to bed. I am a sports fanatic, most in this town are not (transplants or just dont give a da*n outside of UGA Football) I love hockey, love football more, love basketball and baseball more…Oh, and I hate NASCAR but thanks for painting with that broad stroke in the wrong color and with the wrong brush…but I’m here because I’m an insomniac sports nut in a city where a pretty big story just broke and along the way a sweet little boy named Lou said something stupid…so I stopped to play in the sandbox for a while. Again, have fun with Kovy, he’s a great player and the staff there hopefully can get some defense out of him. Try to relax a bit, that NY state of mind apparently has you really uptight.
I believe in Sweet Lou
February 5th, 2010
12:30 am
@Praveen – the team losing the superstar always loses the trade. Happens that way all the time so don’t expect to get anything good when you got a gun to your head to make a move. Sad thing for you guys is that the teams winning the first round in the playoffs will most likely be Jersey Washington Buffalo and Pittsburgh. One of them might get upset but after this trade it won’t be us. So Kovalchuk is going to win at least one round in the playoffs. That’s going to make him sign with us this summer. If he gets a wiff of the finals he is going to give us a hometown discount cuz what I read it’s not about the money it’s about beating Ovechkin and Ovy’s team don’t have the defense or goaltending to advance far. Now throw in all the Russians Kovalchuk will meet in the city and he’s gonna stay with us. You had no chance of winning that trade let alone winning a trade where you are the one giving up the superstar.