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Dealt to the Devils: Assessing The Trade That Lands Ilya Kovalchuk in New Jersey

It has been an extremely busy week around the National Hockey League to say the least. The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Dion Phaneuf and J.S Giguere on Sunday, the Columbus Blue Jackets fired head coach Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday and now the New Jersey Devils have won the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, acquiring the Russian superstar last night.

In exchange the Thrashers receive defenseman Johnny Oduya, forwards Niclas Bergfors and Patrice Cormier and the Devils first round selection in the 2010 entry draft.

Unlike the two players the Leafs attained in Sundays trades, the movement of Kovalchuk has been spoken of and speculated for months. It was just a matter of figuring out what team he would be traded to and when, especially when the report came out recently that Kovalchuk rejected a 12 year 101 million dollar contract extension from the Thrashers

Although at first glance it may seem obvious that the Devils won this deal, the ultimate winner remains to be determined.

The Devils do pick up one of the most dangerous offensive talents in Kovalchuk but will Ilya reign in “hell” for long? His contact which pays him at total of 7.5 million dollars this season (the Devils pay him 2.2 million) expires at the end of this season and you have to wonder whether the Devils can afford to pay Kovalcuk that kind of money (potentially more) when forwards Brian Rolston, Zach Parise and Patrick Elias are all set to earn five million dollars each in 2010-2011.

As well, in losing Johnny Oduya in the deal the Devils lose a key piece of their defensive core. Would money in the off-season (rather then going to Kovalchuk) be better suited towards signing a big name defenseman like Marek Zidlicky or Pavel Kubina both of whom can quarterback a power play? Especially with Paul Martin becoming a UFA come July 1^st.

On the flip side there are experts in the hockey world who believe that Thrashers general manager Don Waddell took a backwards step with his franchise and lost big in the Kovalchuk deal. But Waddell did the best he could with the situation he was put into.

With his hands basically tied behind his back Waddell not only acquired a core defender in Oduya but a young speedy forward in 22 year old Niclas Bergfors who although has been held off the score sheet for much of 2010, has proven in stints this season that he can contribute offensively on a game to game basis. Waddell also received the Devils first round pick and prospect Patrice Cormier.

Also the huge amount of cap space that Kovalchuk would have taken up is now free and with all three of the Thrashers goaltenders becoming free agents this summer Waddell could use some cash to lock up a legitimate starting goaltender. Apologies to Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec who have performed admirably during points of this season, neither has shown they can consistently perform as an NHL starting goaltender.

On top of that is it worth putting money down to sign Kari Lehtonen who hasn’t played a game all season?

In the end losing a star like Kovalchuk is any GM’s nightmare, but Waddell can at least be content that he added a couple of assets in the process. And although losing Kovalchuk may bump them out of the playoffs this season, it gives them room to add depth and improve their team for seasons to come.

As for Lou Lamoriello and the Devils, Kovalchuk is a player who could push them to the Stanley Cup and if he does they will have to be considered the winners of this deal.

Rental player or not.

Posted By Dustin Pollack on Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 2:34 PM
Categories: NHL
Tags: Ilya Kovalchuk, new jersey devils, nhl, atlanta thrashers, don waddell, lou lamoriello