As Ilya Kovalchuk continues to try and find a landing spot in the NHL, new reports from Igor Eronko of Sport-Express and Arthur Staple of Newsday have both the New York Islanders and Rangers out of the running. Staple goes so far as to say that both teams had little interest in the first place, as we touched on in the live chat yesterday.
Kovalchuk’s suitors seem to be dwindling by the day, as teams struggle to find room for his expected contract. If the 34-year old is to land somewhere, it would also cost the team an asset to acquire him from the Devils as he’s not allowed to sign directly with anyone else. Giving up an asset and somewhere around $5MM in cap space for a player who is four years removed from playing in the NHL. 
It’s unclear so far what the Devils would be asking for in trade, but with Ray Shero seemingly washing his hands of the situation until Kovalchuk comes with a real interested party it may drag on much deeper into the summer. No deal can be officially announced until July anyway, when Kovalchuk becomes eligible to sign a new contract with the Devils and then traded to a destination.
The other option that exists for Kovalchuk is waiting until next summer when he will be an unrestricted free agent and able to sign anywhere in the NHL. While that deal would come with restrictions due to his age—contracts signed after the age of 35 count towards the cap regardless of any actions (retirement, buyout, injury) taken—it might be easier to convince a team to take a short-term deal with him without the attached asset. That would also allow him to play in the Olympics, though the relationship between the Russian Hockey Federation and Kovalchuk has been strained for years.
The Rangers are clearly trying to get younger up front, and with Rick Nash already filling the overpriced aging left winger role, have always seemed like a long shot in the Kovalchuk sweepstakes. The Islanders on the other hand could pair Kovalchuk with John Tavares up front, but likely have a better option in Anders Lee already in house. His 34 goals are more than you could expect from Kovalchuk, and they’re already paying Andrew Ladd more than enough to provide some secondary scoring.
Despite reports that Kovalchuk wanted to stay in New York (or Florida), neither team looks like much of a fit for the Russian sniper. These reports shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, though they do take a bit of the fun out of the speculation.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Good.