Worst indicator of utility, no goals and solid contract: why Kovalchuk survive from Los Angeles

In the near future, Russian hockey player Ilya Kovalchuk may be outside the Los Angeles Kings, according to North American sports media. According to them, the club is dissatisfied with his performances and does not intend to provide him with playing time. In this case, the athlete will be allowed to train with the team, and until mid-December he will be paid bonuses under the contract.

At the same time, head coach Todd McLellan said that he does not exclude the return of the ward to the cage.

“He is on the team. And just like other players, he will have a chance to return. We should treat him like any other hockey player of the team ”, - quotes The Athletic as a specialist.

The news about the situation with Kovalchuk is hardly shocking. For the hockey player this season is very unfortunate (as for the whole team), and therefore the dissatisfaction of the coaches and the leadership is very understandable. Ilya has only nine (3 + 6) points in 17 matches, which can hardly be considered a worthy indicator for a player of his status. At the same time, the last time a Russian hit the opponent’s goal on October 20, in a meeting with Calgary Flames. Given the fact that he was always considered a sniper, this is a terrible indicator.

At the moment, Kovalchuk can not abandon in nine games in a row, in which he was marked by only two assists for partners. Kings head coach Todd McLellan expectedly deprived the Russians of a place in the third three and transferred him to the fourth link. But if the mentor hoped that this could cheer up the athlete, then his idea was unsuccessful. In the game with the Canadiens, Ilya spent more than 17 minutes on the ice, but during this time he did not record a single beneficial action.

True, it is worth noting that in that meeting he did not remember mistakes in defense, and also did not become the object of ridicule. This season, Kovalchuk has repeatedly pleased fans and rivals with funny episodes. So, in a match with Carolina, he broke three clubs in one period, and in a game with Buffalo he went to the penalty box three times. It so amused the leading WGR 500 radio stations that they jokingly called it a hat trick.

However, the low productivity and the abundance of comic episodes is not the only problem of the Olympic champion. Perhaps the most disappointing is the fact that during his stay on the ice, the Kings miss a lot. It's no secret that the third link has already managed to get harsh criticism from McLellan, who could not restrain his emotions after the same confrontation with the Sabers. Then the team missed two goals in equal compositions, and in both cases there was a third link on the ice - Kovalchuk, Michael Amadio and Austin Wagner.

"Stupidity. They knew exactly what had to be done at the site, ”McLellan said.

At the moment, Kovalchuk is one of the worst players in the California team in terms of utility ("-10"). Drew Doughty is only three points better than him, but he is a defender, which may be considered a small but justification. In addition, the partner acts in the first link and therefore regularly encounters the main forces of the enemy. As for Ilya, he takes 11th place from the end according to this criterion, and the Detroit striker Andreas Atanasiou with “-22” is on the last line.

The situation of Kovalchuk is complicated by the fact that he is one of the highest paid hockey players of the team. According to CapFriendly, this season he will earn $ 6 million. Only Dauti ($ 11 million) and Angers Kopitar ($ 10 million) will receive more than that. At the same time, the Slovenian is the most productive Kings player with six goals and 12 assists, which cannot be said about the Russian.

Of course, Ilya can hardly be called the worst in Los Angeles. Despite the difficulties, he is the fourth best scorer of the team and second only to Kopitar with Doughty, as well as Dustin Brown. But the situation is darkened by the fact that after returning to the NHL in his game there is no progress.

In the previous season, Kovalchuk chalked up only 34 (16 + 18) points in 64 meetings and became the sixth worst player in the league in terms of utility score (“-26”). There were hopes that this was due to adaptation after a long stay in the KHL and the lack of contact with former mentor Willie Desjardins. But now he is moving with leaps and bounds to repeat his last year's indicators.

In this regard, it is not surprising that the leadership and coaching staff were almost completely disappointed in Kovalchuk and were ready to part with one of the best Russian snipers in league history. At the moment, Ilya is in fifth place with 433 goals and is only four points behind Pavel Bure.

As it became known, the Kings are actively trying to exchange Kovalchuk. According to The Fourth Period, forward agent J.P. Barry received permission to look for a new job for the client, but at the moment there is no interest from the league teams.

It is worth recognizing that with such a large contract, the exchange of the Russian forward seems almost impossible. It is unlikely that any NHL club will agree to give a chance to a veteran whose best years are behind. In addition, his contract contains the clause NMC (No-move clause), according to which Ilya is able to veto not only the transfer to another team, but also a link to the farm club. In this case, the only chance for Los Angeles to get rid of the Russian striker is to agree on a voluntary termination of the contract.

At a particular moment, the situation around Kovalchuk and the Kings seems insoluble, and shifts can only happen in mid-December. The fact is that the lion's share of the hockey player’s contract is bonuses ($ 5.3 million), which will be paid until December 15. This will make it more real his exchange to another club, because he will only have to pay $ 700 thousand. However, this does not negate the fact that for the season 2020/21 Ilya owes $ 4.25 million.

Thus, much in this matter depends on the desire of the striker himself. He can at any time terminate the contract with the Kings and return to the KHL, where he will most likely be received with open arms. But in this case, he will lose about $ 5 million. Otherwise, the Olympic champion Pyeongchang can focus on training and wait for a possible move to another league team.