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Would Kovalchuk want to come here in our current state ? Would he rather play for a contender ? Just show him the money ?

CTheBigPicture said:
We are rebuilding. We should commit to rebuilding. Signing 30+ year old guys generally does not help a rebuild.
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To me it's more of a move a contending team should make.
 
If you trade Kessel for great assets, then I'm fine going after kovalchuk in a 2-3 year deal and flip him for more assets a year or two from now.
 
Leafin' said:
I think it makes more sense to bring in Kovalchuk than to spend money on plugs like Colby Armstrong, David Clarkson types the organization has been notorious for signing.
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Um, okay. Good thing this isn't an either/or proposition, I guess.

EDIT: And just to clarify, Kovalchuk's a great player, of course. It's just that if you think the Leafs should acquire him from the Devils and give him a big money contract at this point (and you're likely going to have to do both of these things if you want him), then I think you're in denial about the reality of the situation this franchise finds itself in right now. Expending assets on a 32 year-old Ilya Kovalchuk or a 35 year-old Joe Thornton at this point will do virtually nothing to move the needle for us in the short term, and it's going to hurt us in the long term.
 
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Signing a star UFA is not going to hurt this team ... if anything, it can help lead this young team. If anything, having a vet like MSL or Iggy is going to do wonders to the likes of McDavid ;), Nylander, and even Kadri and Rielly on the team.

The only thing is you gotta make sure the vet we sign is not just a talented hockey player, but a heart-and-soul true professional too.

That's what this team has really lacked the past few years.
 
number17 said:
Signing a star UFA is not going to hurt this team ... if anything, it can help lead this young team. If anything, having a vet like MSL or Iggy is going to do wonders to the likes of McDavid ;), Nylander, and even Kadri and Rielly on the team.

The only thing is you gotta make sure the vet we sign is not just a talented hockey player, but a heart-and-soul true professional too.

That's what this team has really lacked the past few years.
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In this vein, I'd like them to make a serious run at Jaromir Jagr in the summer---particularly if pigs take wing, and we end up with Connor McDavid.

He's won it all---scoring championships, the Hart trophy, the Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal, world championships. And the guy's got to be a complete gym rat to still be playing (and playing well) a fair bit into his 40's. And if the team's well out of the playoff race, which we likely would be, then you get to flip him for a couple of free draft picks at the deadline.

But we shouldn't be giving up any assets for older players, and we shouldn't be signing any of them to long-term deals.
 
And, with Jagr, you know he'll go to the highest bidder. And that shouldn't be a problem for us.

Pay for some veteran leadership during the season, which you can then flip for picks at the deadline.
 
Wondered last night watching the Flames/Avs game how it would have worked out if Iginla resigned with the Flames instead of the Avs? Flames have been a great story.
 
Wayward DP said:
And, with Jagr, you know he'll go to the highest bidder. And that shouldn't be a problem for us.

Pay for some veteran leadership during the season, which you can then flip for picks at the deadline.
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Yea... just no. Jagr wants to win a cup which is why he requested a trade out of New Jersey, why on earth would he agree to come here given were going on full rebuild for the next few seasons?
 
Pronger84 said:
Yea... just no. Jagr wants to win a cup which is why he requested a trade out of New Jersey, why on earth would he agree to come here given were going on full rebuild for the next few seasons?
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Jagr wanted a cup, so he requested out of Jersey to be traded to Florida?

Jagr wanted a cup, so he signed in Dallas in 12-13?

Jagr's been following around the biggest pay cheque he can find since he came back to the NHL. It's pretty well known that he pissed away a bunch of his money and is sticking around as long as he can to fatten up the retirement account.
 
I'd rather Kovalchuk over Jagr any day at this point. Especially at the salary demands they will have.

One is 31, the other past 40.
 
Leafin' said:
I'd rather Kovalchuk over Jagr any day at this point. Especially at the salary demands they will have.

One is 31, the other past 40.
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The point with Jagr is that he's actually a winner, we wouldn't have to trade any assets to get him, he'd take a short-term deal, and would be willing to come here.

None of those things would be true with Kovalchuk.
 
LeafGm said:
The point with Jagr is that he's actually a winner, we wouldn't have to trade any assets to get him, he'd take a short-term deal, and would be willing to come here.

None of those things would be true with Kovalchuk.
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We also wouldn't have to give anything up for Kovalchuck as well... he would have to pass through waivers though and assuming no team picks him up before we do (key word assuming) then he doesn't cost anything to pick up either... no different then any other free agent signing.

That being said I don't want a flake like him on our club.
 
Return waivers[edit]

"Players who play ice hockey outside of North America during a regular season and who are not on loan from or whose playing rights are not already owned by an NHL club (that is, the player is not already on a team's 90-player reserve list such as a qualified restricted free agent or a draft pick) must also be placed on waivers if they are signed to play in the NHL. If the player is picked up by another NHL club on waivers, the player must be placed on waivers again before a further trade or loan can take place"
 
LeafGm said:
The point with Jagr is that he's actually a winner, we wouldn't have to trade any assets to get him, he'd take a short-term deal, and would be willing to come here.

None of those things would be true with Kovalchuk.
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At 31 Jagr looked like a like a loser. Are we really forgetting the selfish looking money grabber Jagr was in his 30's? Washinton? Rangers? What has Jagr won in the last 10 years? Short term deal because he's old. And just as likely to want to come here as Kovalchuk i feel. No more, no less.

Just because you say it doesn't make it any more true. You are a better poster than this LeafGM and i mean it with all sincerity. You used to be able to see all sides to any post. Now its all one way or no way.
 
Pronger84 said:
We also wouldn't have to give anything up for Kovalchuck as well... he would have to pass through waivers though and assuming no team picks him up before we do (key word assuming) then he doesn't cost anything to pick up either... no different then any other free agent signing.

That being said I don't want a flake like him on our club.
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Kovalchuk doesn't have to pass through waivers. Because he filed his NHL retirement papers to get out of his previous contract and go to the KHL, he's left with one of three options, unless the NHL and NHLPA get together and decide to make an exception for him.

  1. He can take an entire year off hockey, after which he'd be a UFA and free to sign anywhere without any restrictions. So, if he doesn't have an out in his KHL contract (which has two years remaining on it), that'd mean the earliest he could come back to the NHL would be for the 2018/19 season, when he's 35 years old.

  2. As soon as he can get out of his KHL contract, he can go back to the last NHL team he played for, which would be the New Jersey Devils. They could then keep him, or trade him.

  3. He can apply to be reinstated by the NHL, and become a UFA (again, as soon as he can get out of his KHL contract). For this to happen, all 30 NHL teams would have to approve it. Since Lou Lamoriello is not the type to give up something for nothing, this one is probably unlikely.

Now, for argument's sake, even if he's somehow able to navigate past all of those problems, get out of his KHL contract and become a UFA this summer, he's still likely going to want a large, long-term UFA contract that'll make him the most highly paid, or one of the most highly paid players for whatever team he signs with. In other words, he'll become a cornerstone piece for whatever team signs him.

So, after what we've seen for the past number of years...does anyone honestly think that the best way for us to start this rebuild would be to make a malcontent, 31 year-old, one-dimensional Russian winger who's played for losing teams for all but one season of his 11 year NHL career a cornerstone piece for this franchise?
 
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