Carolina Hurricanes: The case for acquiring Ilya Kovalchuk

Ilya Kovalchuk returned to the NHL this season after a five-year absence. He’s a divisive figure, but a supremely talented one. Should the Carolina Hurricanes make a trade and acquire the Russian sniper?

A great deal has been written about the return to the NHL of the two-time 50-goal scorer, Ilya Kovalchuk. After abandoning his long-term contract with the New Jersey Devils in 2013, thus retiring from the NHL, Kovalchuk spent five years playing for SKA St Petersburg in the KHL. His return to North America thus summer was contentious with fans from across the league, myself included.

The case for:

Ilya Kovalchuk is about as pure a goal scorer as you can get in hockey. He has 422 goals in 840 NHL games, and had he played for those five years in the NHL rather than the KHL, he’s almost certainly be approaching – if not past even – the 600-goal mark. He has a tremendous shot, great positioning, and still has some of his pace, even if he’s having to skate harder these days aged 35.

Being a right-handed shot, he’d give the Canes some much-needed balance in the top six. He began the season with 14 points in 14 games, before the LA Kings’ coaching change completely ruined their season, and his along with it. I can attest first-hand to how atrocious a coach Willie Desjardins is, and sadly for Ilya Kovalchuk, he’s bearing the brunt of the fallout in LA while players who should be held accountable, such as Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, are flying under the radar. Ilya Kovalchuk is not to blame for the Kings’ dreadful season.

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So, he’s an elite sniper who would balance our scoring lines. He’d make a huge impact on the Canes’ inept powerplay, would be able to impart his wisdom on to the likes of Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho. He’d also be relatively cheap, seeing as he’s in the doghouse in LA. A change of scenery would be a good thing for Kovalchuk, and there are few better teams he could come to and make an impact with than the Carolina Hurricanes.

Go get him, right?

The case against:

Attitude. For most of his career, there have been rumors about Ilya Kovalchuk’s lax attitude, lack of work ethic, and lack of commitment. This was never more evident than his abandonment of his lucrative contract with the New Jersey Devils, which took the team some years to recover from and which still makes Devils fans froth at the mouth. Understandably so.

His cap hit is also a big concern. The Kings signed Kovalchuk to a 3-year, $18.75m deal this summer. At $6.25m for this year and two more, it’s a significant financial burden to place on this team, particularly when there are several young players requiring expensive contract extensions over the next two years. Realistically, the Canes shouldn’t even consider acquiring Kovalchuk without at least some cap retention on LA’s part.

Acquiring Kovalchuk would also potentially hamper the development of the Canes’ prospects. How much powerplay time would be afforded to the likes of Svechnikov, Martin Necas and Lucas Wallmark? While there would undoubtedly be benefit this season to the acquisition, it is easy to picture a scenario where Svechnikov isn’t receiving the opportunities he needs to develop because there’s an expensive 36/37 year-old winger blocking his path. Is that what this team needs?

Conclusion:

If the price was right, and there was cap retention involved, Ilya Kovalchuk could prove to be an excellent addition to this Carolina Hurricanes team. Having a pure sniper on either Aho’s, or even Jordan Staal‘s, wing would provide a deadly threat for opposition defenses, as well as improve our currently lethargic powerplay.

If a deal could be done around Victor Rask, and with retention, the Carolina Hurricanes should absolutely consider it. Svechnikov could play the season on the third line with less pressure, then move into the top six next year if the team doesn’t bring back captain Justin Williams. That would provide two more threatening scoring lines than the Canes currently have, and would be worth the financial cost of doing so.

Question for CC readers:

Would YOU consider acquiring Ilya Kovalchuk? And, if so, what package would you send LA’s way?