The Kovalchuk Effect
by Rob L on Feb 5, 2010 2:32 PM EST
in NHL News
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PrintLet's change the discussion up a bit around here, as the Rangers are, well, being the typical Rangers. Just in case you've been living under a rock for the past day or so, here is the official trade between the Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils:
To New Jersey Devils: Ilya Kovalchuk, Anssi Salmela, ATL 2nd Round 2010
To Atlanta Thrashers: Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, NJ 1st Round 2010, NJ 2nd Round 2010
I'll go ahead for the impatient ones out there and just say it right now; I think in the short term the Devils win this deal, but I think if things go right for once down in Atlanta the Thrashers might end up winning this deal three years down the road. Overall, though, I'm going to give the slight edge to GM Lou Lamoriello and the Devils seeing as New Jersey just went from possible to probable Stanley Cup finalists. Let's look at this trade from a couple different perspectives.
From the Devil's mouth: The Devils and their fans are, deservedly, giddy with excitement about this trade. I'm not going to even try and describe Kovalchuk's talent with a horrible cliché.The more interesting part of the deal to me is Anssi Salmela, a 25 year-old former Devil who has offensive potential but hasn't found his groove yet. He can step right in for Oduya and should do fine because of the Devil's defensive system. Lamoriello made a smart decision by moving Cormier, as he could have serious character issues with his acts recently on the ice. To me, I think Kovalchuk will end up being a rental for the Devils. Marty Brodeur is having a little bounce-back year, but some of the tell-tale signs of a goalie on his way out have shown over the past couple of seasons. The Devils seem to be going for it all, and this move will obviously be looked upon as one of the bigger reasons why they won it if they end up with the Cup.
From the Birds Nest: Unfortunately, I don't think GM Don Waddell got all he could have for Kovalchuk in the short term. Johnny Oduya was signed to a reward contract for playing so well before, but now he is underperforming without Paul Martin on the ice with him. Bergfors over-achieved out of the gate, but is still a good young talent at the ripe age of 22. Both Oduya and Bergfors will benefit by playing in the Southeast division, if you want to take a fantasy angle. Patrice Cormier, meanwhile, can develop in peace once he gets all this suspension BS behind him. He could prove a lot of people wrong by quietly playing good in Hockey's no-man's land. Overall, though, it was tough for Atlanta to come out as the clear winner in any deal involving Kovalchuk. Atlanta is stacked with young talent and draft picks now, and that path has worked for some of the NHL's top teams currently right now.
From Madison Square Garden: Well, the Atlantic Division just got tougher than it usually is. Dating back to the 2006-2007 season, Kovalchuk has played 14 games against the Rangers for a total of 14 points (5 Goals - 8 Assists). Nobody can score against the Devils to begin with, so this does not make for a good match-up for the Rangers at any point. God forbid if the Rangers end up making the playoffs and we have to play the Devils. The only good thing about Kovalchuk coming to the Atlantic is that the Devils could be dishing out more losses than usual to the Penguins, Flyers, and Islanders. Games against those teams will now become 3-pointers, as I think either the Flyers or the Rangers will be the third team in the playoffs for the Atlantic Division.
In the end, I think the Devils are going for it all, the Thrashers got a good but not great return, and the Rangers need to make one more deal if they expect to make the playoffs. One thing I know for sure is that I will not be watching any Devils-Rangers pre-game shows, because all they will be talking about is the 26 year-old sniper from Russia. I'll drink to Gabby's health while I wait.
P.S: Guess who crosses the river Saturday to visit MSG? Yeah, that team who just traded for Kovalchuk. I'm gonna start drinking now.
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad syntax
but it is indeed effect. You know you should always go with your gut and not the latter. Affect is used to show somethings effect, i.e., the dampness began to affect my health. Effect is used to show a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. Okay that’s enough grammatical retorting for one lifetime.
"Ooohh Baby"- John Davidson
by imprisonedRangerfan on Feb 5, 2010 2:40 PM EST reply actions
My gut was effect
But then I read a bunch of stuff and I stuck with affect. It just didn’t sound right.
Thanks though. It’s Friday which means my brain is off to basic school-like functions.
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No prob Rob.
"Ooohh Baby"- John Davidson
by imprisonedRangerfan on Feb 5, 2010 2:55 PM EST up reply actions
more importantly
I’m pretty sure Olli Jokinen is a Sascha Baron Cohen character that has us all fooled.
“… and the Rangers need to make one more deal if they expect to make the playoffs”
I hope we don’t make the playoffs, what’s the point? Make it as an 8th seed and lose in the first round? We do not have a team that can contend. Lest tank and get a nice top 10 draft pick.
Tank to get top 5. We can stand pat and get top 10 with our fail roster. (we’re 9th right now)
If they make a move, I hope it’s a sell.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Feb 5, 2010 3:14 PM EST up reply actions
Not only tank, but start unloading the high-priced, over 30 players. Maybe the Rangers can get some decent prospects and draft choices for Drury, Prospal and Rozsival. Maybe they can get some sticks and pucks for Avery and Redden. The problem is Sather will try to save his job by making a deal that will, in the long run, come back to haunt the Rangers. This is why Sather must go down and he must go down fast.
You said this already.
First, stop talking about trading Drury. He has a no movement clause, he’s not going anywhere without his expressed written consent (or implied oral consent). Moving on….
Prospal can get value and is the one piece they should move but won’t. He can fetch a 2010 first, and combined with the tanking that would occur because of the move, they could send up with a top 5 and top 20 pick this year, which would be huge to add to the already stocked farm system. In fact, it makes entirely too much sense.
Rozsival has trade value despite the pessimists that think he sucks and we’re stuck, but again, because we’re unlikely to actually sell, this probably won’t happen when it should.
Redden – Hartford Wolpack Dreaming…on such a winter day……..
Avery – please elaborate. He’s cheap and effective at his role. Plus it’d be anarchy if he were traded. Unless that’s what we’re going for. I don’t see him in the long term plans for this team, but no use in trading him now.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Feb 5, 2010 3:23 PM EST up reply actions
We have more wins than Florida. I know we have two games at hand but that’d be the tiebreaker.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Feb 5, 2010 7:51 PM EST up reply actions
I know the common theme is that the Devils did well here, but I don’t think they’ll be able to resign him, and having seen a few Devils games this year, I think some might be underrating Oduya’s importance to the defensive structure of the team. I’ll be watching to see if any holes open up, especially with Kovy’s non-existent defense.
The thing is he’ll probably play alongside Parise and Elias (possibly Langenbrunner), who are both system buy-ins and can cover up his mistakes.
And if his ES defense becomes a liability, he’s still a lethal force to have on the power play, especially since he’ll probably occupy the left point with Martin on the right (once he returns). Lemaire will just sit him until they get a PP or down a couple goals knowing him :-)
parise and elias dont play together. he will play with parise and zajac or elias and langenbrunner would be the guess when elias is back, zubrus until then. yes some of those guys will cover up for his defensive laziness because they have been in the system and are good 2-way players.
by Michael Gleich on Feb 5, 2010 4:45 PM EST up reply actions
Re: Fatso and the Playoffs
Don’t forget – Brodeur turns 39 in May. Although he’s had a great year, he’s shown signs of fatigue recently, and coming off of a 2008-9 season where he played only 31 games, he’s playing almost every night for NJ with their crap backup. He’s also the starting goalie for Canada in the Olympics, who are bound to play a lot of games with a lot of pressure. Look for him to weaken come springtime. (And even with Kovy now a Devil, the Caps still have a better offense.)
Also, New Jersey (and Brodeur) haven’t won anything, or looked dominant in the playoffs since they had an all-star cast on D (Stevens, Nieds, Rafalski etc).
Now drink with me deeply of the bourbon, scotch, and rye until such time as we are fighting drunk.
by Steckel Me Elmo on Feb 6, 2010 8:20 AM EST up reply actions
how i see it
i have to disagree with some of you who think the devils will make it to the conference finals or further … for a couple of reasons - Penguins & Capitals …. and one of the most obvious reasons they won’t get past those teams is because those 2 star players Crosb*tch & Ovechkin have the refs in the palms of their hands, while the devils don’t. the only favorable calls the devils get is when someone bumps into Brodouche’s fingernail (yet Lundqvist gets bowled over by a tank game after game and never gets a call). the league wants to see a Pitts/Wash conference final, so you know bettman will be phoning in when to make calls.
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Blunter than Sather's Cigars....
by Jersey BlueshirtFan on Feb 5, 2010 5:20 PM EST reply actions
Surprising ...
I know you all have said it, but I’m surprised Kovy agreed to NJ. The defensive system was a nightmare for Gabby in Min, and now Kovy’s walking into a similar situation. All the comments make sense; this is a rental. Kovy’s used to being the prima-donna face of a franchise, but this is Brodeur’s team, with a (somewhat) knowledgable fan base who will eat him up for not playing both ends of the ice. This will either end up like Manny in Boston, or Reggie “stir the drink” in ’77. Watch with morbid curiosity …
if we actually made the playoffs.....
we would be a low seed and the one team i would wanna play is the devils.. we have had sucess recently against them in the playoffs and we also detroyed atlanta the year we played them sweeping them in 4… so with hanks pretty good numbers against the devils.. i think i would rather play them then the caps, sabres, or pens… plus if it is a 7 game series then we have 7 straight home games cause newark is always filled with rangers fans especially during the playoffs
LETS GO RANGERS!!!! SECTION 405!!!!!
lou wont resign him ?
lamirello wont resign kolvachuck so he is a rental lou got rid of gionta gomez holik and richer for a lot less then kovy wants so if they dont win the cup it is a wasted trade cause the devils are not gonna shell out the loot for kovy .
this is a great deal for the devils in my view…almost no downsides. But I can be pretty sure of one thing that wont happen as a result of this trade…the devils selling more tickets. The devils have their fanbase, and it will stay relatively consistent during the rest of the season. They will start selling more tickets come playoffs,, and, depending on their opponent early, may even sell out a few games. But I think anyone who thinks this move will lead to more ticket sales at The Rock (Hi Kenny Danyeko!!) are going to be disappointed.
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I know the Leafs got upended in the last few minutes, but the main thought I had watching Friday night’s game was how important defense is, and I’m really hoping we get Volchenkov or Hamhuis this summer to serve as an anchor for our D. The Leafs REALLY upgraded their team last week with Sjostrom and Phaneuf, and the Devils I thought looked more tentative defensively than usual, and I attribute that to Oduya’s departure. Kovy is just not in Ovechkin’s league, I don’t care how many goals he’s scored – he doesn’t have the same kind of impact on the game. I have a good feeling about Saturday night for the Rangers.
I watched the game really to see the impact the trades have had on the Leafs.
Burke has completely detonated this team since last year – even more than Sather has the Rangers.
And if rumors count for anything, with Exelby wanting out, and possibly moving Kaberle, there’s more to come.
I’ve got to say, this Toronto team is going to be very dangerous in the next couple of years, if last night was indicative of how they’ll be playing. They dominated for long stretches – and the score could have been a blowout. Shame on them for letting the Devils hang around.
Joe1969 – good point about Oduya’s departure. I can’t help but think that Lamoriello will be looking for one more move to strengthen the defense.
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| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
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New York Rangers
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Philadelphia
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New Jersey
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