Any of you who haven't been paying all of your attention to the NBA free agent market might have heard that the New York Islanders have reportable offered Ilya Kovalchuk a ridiculous 10 year 100 million dollar contract to come play in Uniondale. Even though we don't know whether or not Kovalchuk will sign with the Islanders or the New Jersey Devils, as a die heart Islanders fan I began to wonder whether or not I wanted him on the Islanders.
Many of you are probably thinking, "are you kidding me, who wouldn't want Ilya Kovalchuk on their team." And there right Kovalchuk was drafted 1st overall in 2001 and ever since his second season in the NHL he has amassed 40 or more goals and has been one of the premiere goal scorers in the NHL since he arrived. Kovalchuk has also won the Rocket Richard award once and has amassed over 50 goals twice on his career. Who wouldn't want him?
As much as it looks pretty on paper to see Ilya Kovalchuk lining up next to John Tavares, I don't believe that it will help the Islanders in the long run. Garth Snow the Islanders General Manager has been saying the Islanders are rebuilding and they are set to sticking with that, so how would signing Kovalchuk be rebuilding? It wouldn't be and as much as he would put people in the seats in the lonely Coliseum, and yes the Islanders do have the money to spend. But what about when John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey's contracts expire, these are only 3 of the many young players the Islanders are building around, and having a 10 million dollar hit on the salary cap each year for the next 10 years doesn't seem smart. How many dominant years does Kovalchuk really have left? Also Kovalchuk has only been to the playoffs once in his career, not saying that it is his entire fault but it could speak about what kind of player he is.
If Kovalchuk ends up signing with the Islanders, I would be happy, because he gives the Islanders the goal scorer that they have been looking for, but at the same time, I say stick to the plan Garth. It worked for the Penguins and the Blackhawks, why not us too?
Great stuff Pags, I still feel we can win this year and Kovy would be great for us. The young core is certainly a concern money wise especially looking at what the Blackhawks had to do this offseason because of signing Marian Hossa last year.
ReplyDeleteI still believe right now we can make the playoffs with or without Kovy and if he turns us down its not a bad thing because we can still go after a guy like Kariya or Frolov.
Nothing to see here. http://twitter.com/katiestrangnyi
ReplyDeleteIslanders officially out of the Kovy sweepstakes!
The Isles should have signed him to a 15 year deal for an obscene amount of money and then hope he plays only a fraction of the time. DP FOR PREZ-Dubie
ReplyDeleteMakes sense. What other player(s) would you spend the $10 million on? What would be your 2 - 5 years plan for players?
ReplyDeleteAs always...Let's Rock