New Jersey Devils Trade Partners For Ilya Kovalchuk: New York Islanders
By Nick Villano
The rumors continue for former New Jersey Devils winger Ilya Kovalchuk. The New York Islanders could match an early rumor saying Kovalchuk wanted to stay in the New York area.
Ilya Kovalchuk rumors continue to commence with little substance. It’s been confirmed by New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero that Kovalchuk is looking to make a return, but tying him to certain teams is just conjecture.
One of the early rumors claimed that the Russian sniper would only come back to the NHL if he could play in either Florida or the New York area. This was to keep his family happy, apparently.
The Islanders are in an interesting position. The team is in cap hell for this season. If Garth Snow signs zero players, he will only be $3 million under the cap. Obviously, the Devils would have to either retain most of Kovalchuk’s salary, take a major contract in return, or both to make a trade work.
The Islanders are also trying to convince captain John Tavares that there is reason to resign with them long term.
All these facts will go into the return on investment for the Devils.
The good news is the Devils can take one of many Islanders players under one year deals. If the Islanders want to send Nikolay Kulemin to the Devils to make the deal work for this year, that’s something the Devils could live with.
Obviously, Kulemin would be a throw-in at best, and the Islanders would have to do much better.
Unfortunately, it seems harder than one may thing to make a deal that works for both teams. The Isles have a few good defensive players, but both Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuck are signed until 2022. There is little to no chance the Islanders are looking to get rid of either of them.
Travis Hamonic would be a lovely return, but the Devils have to be realistic. It would be hard to take Hamonic from the Islanders when he has three years left at less than $4 million per season.
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Calvin De Haan is an interesting case. Christopher Lizza over at Eye On Isles claims that one of Hamonic or De Haan needs to get off the roster in order to allow prospect Ryan Pulock a spot on the roster. De Haan would help an extremely porous blue line, while coming at a term the Devils could live with. He’s currently a restricted free agent, so Shero can dictate his cap hit.
The Islanders have some prospects that will draw some interest, but the ones the team would be willing to give up may not fit the Devils. Josh Ho Sang is obviously an intriguing player, and could easily fit with the Devils, but it’s highly doubtful the Islanders would give him up. He’s expected to make the roster for the Islanders next year.
The Devils can ask about defensive prospects Matt Finn and Scott Mayfield, but they just aren’t good enough. The Islanders are in a position where its prospects are either far away, or ready to go tomorrow.
It sounds like a trade with the Islanders would look something like Calvin De Haan and Nikolay Kulemin with a 2018 draft pick thrown in for Ilya Kovalchuk. It’s not the best return the Devils could get for Kovalchuk, but if he ties Shero up with his trade demands it’s definitely better than nothing. The Devils just have to hope they don’t get scooped in the Expansion Draft.
It brings something else Devils fans sorely want in a Kovalchuk trade; defense.