What If Ilya Kovalchuk Never Left New Jersey Devils?

The most hated man on the planet to most New Jersey Devils fans returns to the Prudential Center on Tuesday. With Ilya Kovalchuk‘s first game back in the NHL, we have to ask, what if he never left?

It was nine years ago Monday when one of the biggest moves in New Jersey Devils history, and one of the biggest trade deadline moves in NHL history, happened. The New Jersey Devils sent rookie forward Niclas Bergfors, NHL defenseman Johnny Oduya, prospect Patrice Cormier and a first-round pick for the services of Ilya Kovalchuk. It was a move to put the Devils back into Stanley Cup contention. Martin Brodeur was at the end of his career, and Lou Lamoriello wanted him to lift the Stanley Cup one more time.

Well, we all know how this worked out. The Devils went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012 and lost. Zach Parise left. David Clarkson left. The NHL went into a lockout, and the season was cut in half. Brodeur got hurt. The team missed the playoffs. Then, a back stabbing.

Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement on July 11, 2013. In the middle of the offseason, Kovalchuk decided to leave in the middle of a 15-year deal with the Devils, and head back to Russia.

This move had long-standing ramifications for one of the most consistent franchises in recent history. Despite missing the postseason that year, this franchise made the playoffs in 14 of the previous 16 years. That’s an insane stretch. Since Kovalchuk left, the Devils made the postseason in one of the next five seasons, and one in six if you count this current season.

Now that we’ve gone down the worst of memory lane, we have to ask one question: what if he never left?

Imagine if the Devils were still dealing with the $6.66 million cap hit of Kovalchuk for the next six seasons after this one. If that’s what they were paying him, things wouldn’t be so bad. The Los Angeles Kings are currently paying him a similar salary to play right now for the next three years. However, the big question would be the major pay cut that was coming starting next season.

Kovalchuk’s contract was set to pay him $4 million in 2019-20, and then $1 million each season from 2020-23. There’s no way Kovalchuk was playing for a mere $1 million, and if he did you’d get him going 10% speed. The Devils had to either treat him like Marian Hossa and have an injury or sickness come up, or they’d have to deal with some major consequences if he decided to retire.

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Besides his contract, the Devils have literally dozens of dominoes that would have never fallen if Kovalchuk was on this roster. Let’s start with one that’s the most far reaching of all. Lou Lamoriello is probably still the general manager of the Devils if Kovalchuk never leaves. Kovy, as much as we hate him, was so good he could probably carry this team to the playoffs with a healthy Brodeur. Those seasons where we wasted Cory Schneider‘s prime? Kovalchuk turns those into playoff seasons. It’s probably not Cup-winning season, but playoffs nonetheless.

Since Lou is still here, does that mean that Josh Harris and David Blitzer never but the Devils? It’s possible this contract puts someone totally different in the driver’s seat of this franchise. However, those two might have still bought the franchise since it came at a discount and the NHL revenue was set to skyrocket.

With Lou still here, the Devils never go full tank. Instead of moves like P.A. Parenteau and Kyle Quincey, which were signed by Ray Shero to eventually trade, the Devils probably sign the likes of David Backes or Kyle Okposo.

One thing is for sure, the Devils never trade for Taylor Hall. This team just couldn’t afford to put another $6 million player on the books, no matter how good they are. With the Devils not being the team to get Hall, guess who probably does. If Lou was still the Devils GM, then Hall is likely playing in the Hudson River Rivalry wearing red, white and blue.

John Hynes is probably the head coach of the Minnesota Wild or something, and Lou finally goes all in on Scott Stevens as head coach. I’ll let you make your own decisions if that’s a good thing. The Adam Henrique for Sami Vatanen trade never happens. The Brian Boyle signing probably does, though. Lamoriello likes Boyle, and traded for him while he was in Toronto.

Nico Hischier would be playing for the Colorado Avalanche, and the Devils would have drafted someone around 18-20 in 2017. There were a couple decent players in that realm, but nobody near the skill of Hischier.

Also, the Devils never get back their first-round pick in 2013. That means John Quenneville never gets drafted in New Jersey. He’s not living up to the hype yet, but he still has a chance to figure it out, and it’s nice to know he’s still around.

The prospect rankings would be even worse than they are, the Devils would be doing more of the “status quo”, and even if they were making the playoffs, they’d likely be further from a Stanley Cup than they are now. Especially with the impending doom that is Kovalchuk’s contract.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a “Ilya Kovalchuk did us a favor” article. He should have never left the way he did. It set this franchise back, and Lou did his best to make up for losing his superstar overnight. It would have been nice to root for Devils hockey at the end of Brodeur’s career. Seeing if Schneider could steal a round or two would also be something to see when he was elite. Now, thanks to Ilya Kovalchuk’s selfish decisions, these will remain “what ifs” forever.