*-> Former New Jersey Devil Bobby Holik has been voicing his opinion on the Ilya Kovalchuk signing the past few days on several radio shows saying that it was a bad signing and it's the cause of New Jerseys woes. He also went on to criticize Kovalchuk for being late to a team meeting and having a bad reputation around the league. The coaches are not to blame according to Holik as well, the blame lies on the contract. The Devils are a different team this season that's for sure. I think while that Kovalchuk contract is ugly and completely unmovable it's not it's fault the Devils are doing poorly. Yes it limits them to icing a thin roster but at the same time it's the managements problem for A. agreeing to it and B. not making any changes to get cap space. I agree it's not John Macleans fault and he still needs time to get a system in place. It's not an easy task turning a defense first team into an offensive powerhouse. Look at Minnesota who are going through similiar growing pains. To blame Kovalchuk for the teams woes is pretty silly. Yes he should be producing more but give him something to work with. Criticize his play but the weight alone of losing shouldnt be on his back alone. Veteran guys like Arnott, Langenbrunner, Tallinder should be pushing the team. It's not just Kovalchuk who has struggled it's the entire team from the net up. I know CA will be the first to comment and call me a "Russian Sympathizer" but I don't agree it's entirely his fault, just look at the rest of his team. There is more than a handful of guys who should be helping out. His play has been poor and his attitude is that of a prima donna but he has shown heart in the past. He does have to step up but it's much bigger than just him. I believe it was Bobby Holik who said once "if you put a massive contract in front of me I'm obviously going to sign it". For how many years did Holik's inflated contract burden New York and New jersey? Management should share equal blame for putting themselves in this mess in the first place. To me New Jersey woes are simple, a coaching change, a big roster turn over on the backend, the lack of cap space, and a new style change all at once are the source of their woes not Ilya Kovalchuk. As Maclean said earlier the team should be playing their hardest and not relying on Ilya to bail them out every night.
What does everyone else think on this matter? Is Kovalchuk to blame for New Jersey's dreadful start? His contract? The coaching staff? Lets hear your thoughts!
7 comments:
Kovy just adds to the mayhem! He was late for 4 team meetings before Johnny Mclean sat him. Does not sit well with the other players...bad signing as im sure causes friction in the locker room which causes poor results on the ice.
Ill name some names of my own Scoopz;
Brodeur may have had his first Alzeimers moment at the olympics, and could be slowly burning out. But thats ok for NJ, Johan Hedberg has tons of years left in the tank.
Also, Zach Parise is an elite level player, and he has not made much of an effort this year. But he is an American, so, you know, par for the course. Jersey to miss the playoffs this year?
Scoopz, you Russian sympathizer!
Seriously though, while I still believe that Kovalchuk is a huge issue on the Devils, I agree with Tom that he is hardly their only one. Poor coaching, a loss of a mobile, puck moving defenseman, loss of your top scorer to injury and playing only 15 players will hurt any team.
I'm not convinced that a team with a head case in the locker room will necessarily do poorly. Certainly, there may be trust issues, but the players should rally around leaders like Arnott, Lagenbrunner and Brodeur to get their game on the right track. The experienced players have a tradition of winning and it is easier for those type of teams (Detroit, NJ are the only 2 right now) to break slumps than others.
However, in fairness, signing Kovalchuk to that albatross contract was foolish. He cannot play NJ's style and isn't well rounded enough to be worth putting out 25 minutes a night. I feel the Devils were tricked into believing that the market for Kovalchuk was more competitive than it was in reality. Teams can offer two things to free agents: Dollars, and term. Kovalchuk received a reasonable yearly salary at an immense term. Players like him should get the opposite, because whenever their speed or power fall off, they're mere shadows of their former selves. Remember a guy named Sergei Fedorov? Alex Kovalev? Igor Larionov? I'm not saying that those guys were wastes of space in their later years, but all of them saw significant declines in production at similar points in their careers and had to accept different roles to stay relevant in the league. Here: (to save space I used only one year to denote a season ie. this year=2011)
Sergei Fedorov
effective: 1991-2004 (14 seasons)
role player: 2006-09 (4 seasons)
Igor Larionov
effective: 1992, 94-95, 97-99 (6 seasons)
role player: 90-91, 93, 96, 2000-04. (9 seasons)
Alex Kovalev
effective: 98-03, 06-09 (7)
role player: 93-97, 04-05, 10-present) (10)
Alex Mogilny
effective: 91-99, 2001-03 (12)
role player: 90, 00, 04, 06 (4)
What I'm trying to prove by all this is that the lifespan of a Russian goal-scorer isn't the same as a Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, Jaromir Jagr or Mike Modano. If you're lucky, its 14 years like Fedorov. And he was different, because he changed his game from speed to passing and that extended his career a bit. Kovalchuk has already been in the league 9 years, plus the lockout year. No way that in 4 years time he is as effective as he is now. He'll lose speed and that is a key part of his game. Will NJ be happy paying 11 mil a season for a powerplay QB? Or losing 6.6M in cap space? Not likely, but they won't be able to do anything except ask Kovalchuk to retire, but if he wants to play like Blue Jackets Fedorov, or Senators Kovalev, he can do that as long as he likes, cashing in along the way.
CA
DWYZ, I agree he adds to the mayhem in New Jersey. I believe the late for team meetings thing was a one time issue but still a major one. I know many players don't take too kindly to "hot shot" players so it carrying on the ice could be a factor indeed.
CA, you have some very good points about the situation in New Jersey. Kovalchuk isn't their biggest problem at the moment. The loss of an identity, the lack of an elite defenseman, and the aging process. As you pointed out Kovalchuk will not be a problem till the aging process begins. Russian or not the life span of an NHLer is very short for most. The players you mentioned Sakic, Yzerman, Jagr and Modano are all elite players and well should be future Hall of Famers so the comparision is confusing. Very few will ever be able to continue to excel late in their careers then adapt perfectly to new roles Russian, Swedish or Canadian. It is true there isn't much of a role for a one dimentional goal scorer so guys like Dany Heatley, Ilya Kovalchuk etc will all be useless once the offense dries up. Even players like Jason Spezza will eventually struggle unless they learn the leadership side of the game or refine their two way play. The players like Jagr all could keep the offense up at an inhuman abilities, while Kovalchuk has no signs of decay yet and probably not for atleast 5 or so seasons, Kovalchuk has yet to show he's among that hockey god company so as of right now the deal looks pretty silly. If he can keep producing at the same rate the deal is more than acceptable. It's really not Kovalchuk's fault the salary cap has changed the way teams do business. The onus is on the New Jersey management to try and make the right decesions including contract offers and also to try and right the ship. Guys like Jason Arnott, Brian Rolston and Martin Brodeur should be using their presence to inspire the team instead of standing back and watching, so they too are equally at fault in my opinion.
Also CA on the Russian decline comments, I'm not too sure where you were going with it, if you were saying Ilya is in the same company as Larionov, Fedorov and Mogilny or he'll decline like them? If he's in the same company I'll say he's done well for himself especially since all of those guys have had great careers. Mogilny didn't quite tail off as was still putting up 34 goals at the age of 34 but he was an early exit due to injuries and the new salary cap era. While Larionov did decline drastically he served as a valuable two-way centerman. plus all of those guys mentioned apart from Kovalev who doesn't deserve to be mentioned with the above, are all dependable in their own as well. Not all Russians follow the decline and loss of a role but almost all do decline just as the same way most non European players fade out as well and end up playing depth roles. Especially now with the salary cap era, just look at Bill Guerin. There are some exceptions like at 38 Slava Kozlov was a Russian who scored at a consistant rate till he left for the KHL. I agree with most parts of your post as most Russian's are offensive minded it's no secret but a few can reach that elite level, as you said how many will score at a pace that will put their names alongside legends such as Messier, Jagr, Sakic etc? Not many but neither will most NHL players. Most will fizzle out after they cannot consistently score anymore as you said but so will most other players Russian, European or not. Ether way thats just my opinion take it as you will. Is Kovalchuk one of the rare few it's hard to say but I agree if he does New Jersey just signed a New York Islanders still contract ie. Yashin, Peca, or DiPietro that will haunt them in the future. Thanks CA, I'm always a big fan of any of your comments. Always good for a thought provoking debate!
Also CA on the Russian decline comments, I'm not too sure where you were going with it, if you were saying Ilya is in the same company as Larionov, Fedorov and Mogilny or he'll decline like them? If he's in the same company I'll say he's done well for himself especially since all of those guys have had great careers. Mogilny didn't quite tail off as was still putting up 34 goals at the age of 34 but he was an early exit due to injuries and the new salary cap era. While Larionov did decline drastically he served as a valuable two-way centerman. plus all of those guys mentioned apart from Kovalev who doesn't deserve to be mentioned with the above, are all dependable in their own as well. Not all Russians follow the decline and loss of a role but almost all do decline just as the same way most non European players fade out as well and end up playing depth roles. Especially now with the salary cap era, just look at Bill Guerin. There are some exceptions like at 38 Slava Kozlov was a Russian who scored at a consistant rate till he left for the KHL. I agree with most parts of your post as most Russian's are offensive minded it's no secret but a few can reach that elite level, as you said how many will score at a pace that will put their names alongside legends such as Messier, Jagr, Sakic etc? Not many but neither will most NHL players. Most will fizzle out after they cannot consistently score anymore as you said but so will most other players Russian, European or not. Ether way thats just my opinion take it as you will. Is Kovalchuk one of the rare few it's hard to say but I agree if he does New Jersey just signed a New York Islanders still contract ie. Yashin, Peca, or DiPietro that will haunt them in the future. Thanks CA, I'm always a big fan of any of your comments. Always good for a thought provoking debate!
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