Kovalchuk staying in KHL...

[reeveta]

"I want to stay in St. Petersburg but I have contractual obligations in the NHL, which will be hard to break," Kovalchuk said. "Right now, I can't imagine how (my staying in the KHL) can be arranged... But I don't know anything yet."

Translation: "I would love to stay the night and have breakfast. You know you are the love of my life but I need to get home before my wife/husband suspects something"

[ericdaoust]

Translation: "I would love to stay the night and have breakfast. You know you are the love of my life but I need to get home before my wife/husband suspects something"

This is not a Pronger thread.

[letangerang58]

"I want to stay in St. Petersburg but I have contractual obligations in the NHL, which will be hard to break," Kovalchuk said. "Right now, I can't imagine how (my staying in the KHL) can be arranged... But I don't know anything yet."

Unless it was an impostor, it seems like a legit quote and a legit source. Slava Malamud is a writer for Russia's Sport-Express so I'll take it. At the very least, these quotes are out there and Kovy is not rushing to clarify his statements.

Now I can see the argument that he is just trying to be nice to the fans in Russia, but when he comes out and states that he WANTS to stay in the KHL, but is obligated by his contract, you can only spin that so much. Pretty much the wrong thing to say and guarenteed to piss off your team and owners. Hell, it sounds like if his agent could get him out of the contract, he'd be all over it.

Pretty damning IMO

Idk, he's just stating a preference. He's not saying that the Devils suck and he hates playing for them or anything like that. Either way, I'm sure the Devils (players, fans, coach, management) will overlook everything as long as he comes back. He is by far their best player and probably their only hope at being decent this season. I'm wondering if during that meeting that Datsyuk, Malkin, Kovy, etc had that they didn't ask someone to give the NHL a bit of a scare. Either way, no way in hell that he risks the IIHF sanctions when Sochi is coming up next year.

[One87]

Wow! I never though this thread would get to be this long...lol

[letangerang58]

I'm pretty sure I would be furious if I was the owners or his teammates if he came out and said he would prefer to be elsewhere. I think it does have an impact. Lockeroom cancers are usually shown the door - see Carter and Richards (allegedly). No real reason to move either of those guys, but they were shown the door abruptly.

Just my opinion, but I think this is the last thing NJ wants or needs and must be pissed.

Are they? Seems to me like an aweful lot of teams around this league put up with bull**** from players a lot longer than they should. Look at Semin, Andrei Kostitsyn, Radulov, etc. All of these players were aloud to stick around for much longer then they should have (in Radulov's case given a second chance even though he was a dick to the team in the first place). Teams don't kick a player with an attitude to the curb as soon as he starts being a dick. They keep giving players opportunity after opportunity to clean up their act because the teams are all so desperate to make their teams better. Consider who will be taking up Kovalchuk's roster spot on this team. Stephen Gionta, Cam Jansen, Steve Bernier those are your alternatives to Kovalchuk.

*sorry if any of that came out argumentative, assholeish, incoherent, or rambling. I'm drunk and sleep deprived thanks to quiting smoking.

[ovi42]

none of us know how the other players feel about this

There are enough quotes out there now. Patrick Elias in particular, is not impressed. I don't remember where the quote was, but to paraphrase: he said Kovy not reporting to camp on Sunday was in fact, a big deal for himself and the rest of the team.

[lucifer316]

There are enough quotes out there now. Patrick Elias in particular, is not impressed. I don't remember where the quote was, but to paraphrase: he said Kovy not reporting to camp on Sunday was in fact, a big deal for himself and the rest of the team.

are there i dont know i dont follow devils news if it isnt on twitter stuff i follow i generally dont see it

ok so we do know how they feel

[arctic_rogue]

Going to be an interesting situation either way.

[Carcillo]

SKA St. Pete coach Jukka Jalonen to SovSport after Thur game vs Salavat: "This was Kovalchuk's last game with us before going back".

https://twitter.com/Sz1909_Szemberg/...25955687858176

[ericdaoust]

Are they? Seems to me like an aweful lot of teams around this league put up with bull**** from players a lot longer than they should. Look at Semin, Andrei Kostitsyn, Radulov, etc. All of these players were aloud to stick around for much longer then they should have (in Radulov's case given a second chance even though he was a dick to the team in the first place). Teams don't kick a player with an attitude to the curb as soon as he starts being a dick. They keep giving players opportunity after opportunity to clean up their act because the teams are all so desperate to make their teams better. Consider who will be taking up Kovalchuk's roster spot on this team. Stephen Gionta, Cam Jansen, Steve Bernier those are your alternatives to Kovalchuk.

*sorry if any of that came out argumentative, assholeish, incoherent, or rambling. I'm drunk and sleep deprived thanks to quiting smoking.

They keep people around because hockey is about production and winning, not about being happy and getting along. Nobody likes everyone that they work with (hockey is a job BTW) but unless someone breaks a really bad rule they will keep or lose their job based on production. Who cares if Kovalchuk hinted at staying in Russia? This isn't day care.

[lucifer316]

@Jay_Grossman RE: questions regarding Ilya Kovalchuk, there has been direct and thorough communication with NJ throughout

[lucifer316]

Slava Malamud ‏@SlavaMalamud

Kovalchuk tells Sport-Express he'll be on a plane to US Jan. 15 "Alas, (staying) is not realistic. I have contractual obligations to honor"

[ericdaoust]

Slava Malamud ‏@SlavaMalamud

Kovalchuk tells Sport-Express he'll be on a plane to US Jan. 15 "Alas, (staying) is not realistic. I have contractual obligations to honor"

And once he starts playing the regular season we (along with Devils' players for those interested in the potential drama) will forget that this ever happened.

[Instant Karma]

And once he starts playing the regular season we (along with Devils' players for those interested in the potential drama) will forget that this ever happened.

Word. This whole thing has been a tempest-in-a-teapot if I ever saw one.

[mister_mcgoo]

He can't unilaterally void his deal. Not sure the Devils can do it either even if Kovy is in breach of his contract. If Kovy stays in Russia then Devils will suspend him and if he returns to NA that contract is still valid. Would be a messy situation with it being a long-term deal (vs. Radulov situation) but still the Devils would certainly love to have a world class player on their team if he wants to return.

But the point is moot. Kovy will be back in New Jersey next week and all of this will be forgotten and Kovy and Devils are one happy family again.

so how does that work exactly if a player does that and stays in the KHL? lets say a guy has 5 years left at 5mil per year and he stays in the KHL for 4 years and then wants to come back to the NHL to play when he's 40 or something. Is the team on the hook for his salary at that point or can they goto arbitration or something?