Former New Jersey Devils’ star Ilya Kovalchuk is rumored to return to the NHL this offseason. The big question: should the team even consider bringing him back?
Another offseason, another reminder that Ilya Kovalchuk retired from the New Jersey Devils. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet started the conversation, saying that the 34-year-old sniper wants to return to the NHL.
Here is where things get complicated. A quirky NHL rule says that every team in the league has to agree that Kovalchuk can return to the league for him to become a free agent. Every single team. If the Los Angeles Kings were mad at one hit the Russian put on them in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, they can say no and this all goes away (highly unlikely, since they won, but you get the point).
That is, however, unless he returns to the New Jersey Devils.
So Kovalchuk rumors swirl, once again splitting Devils fans. A large contingent of fans desperately want Kovalchuk back on the team. His jersey still sits in their closet (mine included) and they hope once again they can wear the number 17. He reminds them of days where the Devils were signing the best players on the market, instead of sitting near the cap floor.
Then, there are the other fans who are too hurt to welcome his return (me included). He left the team in the middle of a massive contract to go play in Russia. He left one year after Zach Parise went home, taking the Devils from Stanley Cup contender to laughing stock in two offseasons.
While it’s been years of rumors, let’s pretend this one is for real. What should the Devils do?
The team is under completely new management. Nobody in the front office, from the owners to the head coach and everyone in between, even know what it’s like to have Kovalchuk. There is no familiarity to him. At this point, he is nothing more than a pipe dream who could become an asset.
If Kovalchuk announces his return, the Devils can either welcome him back on the team, sign and trade him, or freeze him out.
While as a fan I would love for the team to freeze him out and watch him wait out his retirement, it isn’t the right move for the future of the team.
That means the two options left involve keeping him on the team and hope everyone eventually gets over the whole retirement thing, or hoping a team who loses out on assets this offseason pays a big price to bring in Kovalchuk.
Kovi clearly still has a very good scoring touch. In the KHL this season, he scored 32 goals in 60 games. He’s a better than point-per-game player in that league. The Devils could use that kind of scoring touch on a team that once again ranked near the bottom in goals scored.
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At the end of the day, however, the Devils could sorely use the assets that a Kovalchuk trade would bring. Trading him to who they want gives the Devils power, and could bring back an interesting return. This unexpected asset can be used to make the blue line better, something that even Kovi couldn’t fix right now.
This could once again be another rumor that ends with Kovalchuk spending another season in the KHL, but at 34 he is running out of time to make a comeback. If things are as chaotic in Russia as they seem, a return to the NHL may be a welcomed break. Either way, the Devils hold the cards. Enough time has passed, and enough years without playoffs, that Devils’ fans may welcome him back. It’s been so long, the photo rights to this page don’t go back far enough to have Ilya Kovalchuk pictures in a Devils uniform. So, maybe this is the right time for him to come back, especially if this time he brings in talent to the Devils.