Who would you give up for Kovalchuk?

by Casey Richey on Jan 13, 2010 3:10 PM CST in Opinion

How many pucks could a Kovalchuk chuck if a Kovalchuk could chuck pucks? Well, 189 in the past four NHL seasons and another 26 this season. That scoring ability has gotten a lot of teams wondering what they would have to give up in order to get Ilya Kovalchuk as his contract with Atlanta nears expiration.

That also spawned a little idea around the SB Nation Hockey community to see what value would fans of certain teams give up for the coveted Kovy. It started at Bird Watchers Anonymous, the Thrashers blog, and spread like wildfire to 11 other teams.

In all reality, there is no way the Red Wings would have the cap room to bring in Kovalchuk with out giving up some key players (Franzen, Kronwall, etc.) in exchange, which might make it worthless in the first place. But never-the-less, it's a fun little idea and we want to get your thoughts on who you'd give up for the very gifted and consistent scorer from the Thrashers.

Detroit sits at a very slim cap space of about $919,000 and Kovalchuk's contract is a hefty $6.389 million. So any trades would require nearly equal contract values and likely several players for the Wings to keep their top end together. Don't worry too much about the actual cap numbers but a general ballpark area would be good. Keep in mind he'd also need to re-sign to make any of this worthwhile so conditional picks would be key.

Anyway, if you want to take part in this fun little filler in between games, comment with the following:

Detroit Gets: Ilya Kovalchuk
Atlanta Gets: ____your answer here___

My answer after the jump

Detroit Gets: Ilya Kovalchuk

Atlanta Gets: Valtteri Filppula (as much as it pains me to say), Jonathan Ericsson, Ville Leino, 1st round pick in 2010 draft, and a conditional 1st round pick in 2011 draft if he re-signs.

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Comments

That's a lot of Cheese

I think we could probably do it exactly as you said without getting rid of Ericsson. I’d try it sans Filppula first to see if the Thrashers would bite.

Definitely like the conditional pick, but I’d also like to see maybe Atlanta give a conditional third, fourth, or even fifth-rounder if Kovy doesn’t re-sign.

by J.J. from Kansas on Jan 13, 2010 3:14 PM CST reply actions

Yeah, I wouldn’t want to get rid of Fil anytime soon and neither would Kenny. Ericsson would be good trade bait with his youth and size. Ville because…well, why not get rid of him haha.

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Jan 13, 2010 3:20 PM CST up reply actions

I wouldnt trade anyone for him

whenever he becomes a free agent he would want more then lidstrom and he would bolt first chance he got……when we get healthy we wont need to be asking ourselves these type of questions!

by GOLDIGGAH on Jan 13, 2010 3:37 PM CST up reply actions

oh indeed

It’s a hypothetical, just for fun thing. A Fantasy Hockey trade if you will

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Jan 13, 2010 3:39 PM CST up reply actions

HOLY GOD

You’re giving away quite a bit for a rental (presumably).

Can I offer Meech, Bertuzzi, Osgood, and Leino?

I would NEVER get rid of Filppula. If I knew he was going to re-sign in Detroit (which is a virtual impossibility because he’s seeking 9-10M), I’d offer the following:

Larsson/McCollum, Kindl, Abdelkader, and a 2nd (this is a great draft coming up)

by Michael Petrella on Jan 13, 2010 3:26 PM CST reply actions

Yeah, maybe Filppula’s stretching it a bit for a rental. But if this were the no salary cap era and the Wings could give up that money easily with no cap, I’d take it. But it’s not haha

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Jan 13, 2010 3:32 PM CST up reply actions

How about?

McCrimmon, Lebda, Meech, assorted body parts farmed from Andreas Lilja, and two Little Caesar’s franchise stores?

by J.J. from Kansas on Jan 13, 2010 3:38 PM CST reply actions

A deal they can't refuse...

Leino, Lebda, Meech, Ansar Khan (McLeod is better) and the rights to one division championship from the last 20 years, since we have plenty of them to go around.

Find me on twitter @chollis

by motownchollis on Jan 13, 2010 3:39 PM CST reply actions

only, and only

if they cross out Red Wings and write Thrashers in crayons/magic marker

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Jan 13, 2010 3:40 PM CST up reply actions

Puffy paint is also an acceptable alternative.

Find me on twitter @chollis

by motownchollis on Jan 13, 2010 3:42 PM CST up reply actions

indeed

or glitter glue

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Jan 13, 2010 3:44 PM CST up reply actions

The thing is, while Kovalchuck’s stats look great, could he possibly fit into the system? I think if you put this guy on the team, his numbers wouldn’t be so great. He wouldn’t rack up 100 points or more, because the team isn’t based around him. The Red Wings have never been based around one player, it’s always a team effort. I bet if you put Datsyuk in Atlanta (without Kovy there) he’d be a racking in a lot of points too. Iunno, I just don’t think Kovalchuck would fit in Detroit.

But I’d give up Ericsson, Mebdeech, a 1st/2nd round draft pick, and a prospect.

by von Awesome on Jan 13, 2010 5:19 PM CST reply actions

Or maybe put Hudler in there too. Give his rights away, if that can happen.

by von Awesome on Jan 13, 2010 5:20 PM CST up reply actions

Hmmm

id say any of the following
leino
meech
lebda
williams
kindl
any draft picks
(Maybe)one of those goalie prospects(i dont know much about them to say much)
Anyone else that i would get rid of, altanta would not take

Fillpula Helm and Eaves are my untouchables.

by Fiend on Jan 13, 2010 9:54 PM CST reply actions