Dan Rosen of NHL.com is reporting that Ilya Kovalchuk could be traded before the Olympic Break. The Roster Freeze begins February 12th, that is a mere 9 days away. There are supposedly 5 teams in talks with the Atlanta Thrashers concerning a deal with the Russian Superstar. Those teams are the Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, and our very own New York Rangers. No matter what, if one of the aforementioned teams wishes to obtain Kovalchuk they must be willing to part with some key players to their club. Kovalchuk IS the Atlanta Thrashers. He owns the team record for games, goals, assists, points... basically everything that is not a goalie statistic. By the way, regarding Atlanta's history of goaltenders I'm sure he's not too far behind in wins and shutouts. So I ask you, my fellow Blueshirt fans these 3 questions:

1. Is Ilya Kovalchuk the answer to the Ranger's woes?

2. Would Kovalchuk gel with the current Ranger roster and Tortorella?

3. Is he worth acquiring in return for at least one of our young, skilled forwards (Callahan, Dubinsky) as well as a D-Man (Gilroy, Girardi) and as well some prospects (Grachev, Sanguinetti) or draft picks.

For the full article detailing this and other trade rumors: Click here.