An excerpt from SPORT-EXPRESS DAILY article which starts this silly rumor:
Two clubs most interesting in purchasing Kovalchuk are Toronto and Montreal and they have addressed the general manager of Thrashers Don Waddell with the question of possible compensation. These negotiations took place on the recent meeting of general managers of NHL, who were discussing possible changes in the rules and regulations.
Below is an excerpt from Lyle Richardson’s (Spector) take on the above rumor…..I couldn’t say it any better than Lyle’s take:
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My thanks to everyone who sent this link in. Somebody needs to explain to the Sport Express reporter of this story how the NHL salary cap works, because the Canadiens currently have no space available to acquire Kovalchuk, whose salary is $6.4 million per season both this year and next, and they have no reason at this time to make such a deal. The Maple Leafs could afford it but I don’t think they’d be willing to pay the steep asking price.There’s also a silly rumor flying around today claiming the Penguins are offering Jordan Staal, Kris Letang and a first round pick for Kovalchuk, which of course overlooks the fact the Penguins are tight against the cap and this trade doesn’t fit under said cap.
Quite frankly, I think it’s far too early to start suggesting that the Thrashers are thinking of shopping Kovalchuk right now. Unless the talent Russian sniper has requested to be dealt, this rumor holds about as much water as those silly Gaborik and Khabibulin rumors from earlier in the month.
There is always “cap room” for the right player. If you don’t have it you make it. But it’s situations like this that are bound to arise throughout the season that makes me so perplexed that Gainey sunk $4 million in valuable cap space into a 40 year old third line center like Lang. Crap, that was dumb.
“No reason” for the Habs to acquire Kovalchuk? Oh yeah, they already have 9 or 10 50 goal scorers in the lineup, I forgot,guess there isn’t room for another one.
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