On Ilya Kovalchuk …
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Looking at eight potential landing spots for Ilya Kovalchuk in a sign and trade with the New Jersey Devils.
Montreal Canadiens – Need offense. They have three 2018 second round picks and could package one of them with a prospect.
Dallas Stars – Have three UFA wingers in Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky and Jiri Hudler.
Minnesota Wild – Team is getting older and their window is closing. Could use a natural winger.
Los Angeles Kings – The Kings need scoring and could be buyers this offseason. They don’t have a lot of cap space and may need to buy out Dustin Brown or Marian Gaborik if they can’t sweeten the pot enough for Vegas to draft one of them.
Edmonton Oilers – Leon Draisaitl has done well on the wing with Connor McDavid, but long-term McDavid-Draisaitl down the middle makes sense.
Carolina Hurricanes – Need more scoring and have lots of picks and prospects as well as the cap space.
Florida Panthers – GM Dale Tallon has said he’s looking for a goal scorer.
Vegas Golden Knights – They’ve already signed Vadim Shipachev and Kovalchuk has been been his teammate for the past four seasons.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman was on the NHL Network talking about Ilya Kovalchuk and where he might end up.
“He’s got a history in the New York area, so you wonder,” pondered NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman during a Tuesday afternoon appearance on NHL Network. “I don’t know if he would consider the Islanders a favorite, but I could see that being a potential destination. I wonder if the Rangers would have any interest. They’re still in the playoffs right now, depending on what their situation is. He built a home in Florida. I don’t know if he still owns it. I wonder what he would consider about the teams in that area.
“But I’m sure there’s going to be a few teams. Look, Montreal – I’ve got to think Montreal. They have Radulov. They’re going to try and re-sign him. And I think they’re going to make an honest attempt at re-signing him. I wonder if the Canadiens would have interest.”
Friedman also wonders what term length the 34-year old Kovalchuk will be looking for. Alexander Radulov signed a one year deal last year. Vadim Shipachyov just signed a two-year deal with Vegas.
