Denied!

Now that something has been made from the Ilya Kovalchuk hearing concerning his seventeen year contract with New Jersey, we learn two things:

1. Ridiculously long and expensive contracts don't work in the NHL (with the exception of Luongo, Dipietro, Hossa, Ovechkin, Crosby, shall I go on?).

2. Kovalchuk will remain a free-agent.

Concerning the ladder statement, is he really going to sign with another team? It would confirm Kovalchuk's reputation as a selfish player unfit to be a captain if he left New Jersey. Even though the $100M is not being offered, I would be shocked if he went somewhere else.


Which brings us to L A.

The fans of the suddenly trendy Los Angeles Kings were ready for one of the sexiest summers in NHL history. With Sergei Gonchar, Ilya Kovalchuk, Anton Volchenkov, Dan Hamuis, and even Paul Martin on the market, Dean Lombardi was expected to create the "happy to be in the playoffs" Kings into big time contenders.

So far the Kings have signed.....................................................................................

Alexei Ponikarovsky

I'm not saying  Ponikarovsky is not a good addition, but he isn't exactly the LA caliber superstar Kings fans hoped for. Who is? A man who is a free agent, AGAIN.
While it isn't likely Kovalchuk's headed for Hollywood, the second dip in the free-agent pool may change his mind and the lure of LA may be too great to resist. Some other teams may join the hunt again, teams like the Islanders, who could use a superstar as much as any team. But only time will tell.

When this is all over, there will apparently be more talks about a Tomas Kaberle trade, but honestly, there have been Kaberle trade rumors since he's been drafted.