Cyberpresse Kovalev Article...

[puck7x]

<a href="http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/article/1,154,1881,072004,730349.shtml" target=blank_>CLICK HERE!</a>

it seems like both sides are waiting for someone to make a move, Kovalev would like to return to Montreal, and the habs would like him back, the habs made him an offer in June, and can still make him another. Gainey says he has received calls from big name UFA's, and he says that its up to Kovalev and his agent to tell the Canadiens what kind of contract he wants.

Gainey is not an idiot, if Kovalev signs elsewhere Gainey will acquire a quality replacment.

And... An HW article on Gainey - http://www.habsworld.net/show_big_news.php?id=635

Maybe this will spark some conversations on this forum? (its been dead lately)

[Edited on 2004-7-8 by puck7x]

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Je ne comprend pas!

I don't know enough french to read that article.

Kovalev will not receive the offer he wants. There are too many questions about him to offer 6 million plus.

Perhaps the kovalev camp will come back with an offer of 5.5 million. Gainey will say 4.5, they will agree on 5.

I hope he comes back. We will have a very solid team with him

[Ribeiro]

I don't know enough french to read that article.

Translation Tools

[simonus]

kovalev's agent brings up a reasonable point... how much is kovalev actually worth in this market. What happens to demitra, palfy, etc will say a lot - I just hope that the habs and kovalev dont sit around gauging the market's temperature until such point as there is nobody of kovalev's level left to sign. Who knows? Perhaps it will turn out that kovalev is worth less than the original tendered contract.... would the canadiens be able to revise to a lower number without insulting kovalev and pushing him to another team? I realize that is a pretty unlikely scenario, but all I can do right now is theorize.

[ch_nl]

I think Kovalev is worth 6 million if i plays at his best a whole season.

But... Why not offer him a 4.5 million and then give him some kind of bonus that makes it possible for him to make 6?

[Guy_Guy_Guy]

Guys Guys Kovalev will be back in Montreal. Dont worry, Gainey will offer him a very good amount of money that even he cant refuse. Cuz why do you think Bob got ride of 8 of our players? First, to save a lot of money for the sake of the team, its profit and of course to sign Kovalev!

[Ribeiro]

Guys Guys Kovalev will be back in Montreal. Dont worry, Gainey will offer him a very good amount of money that even he cant refuse. Cuz why do you think Bob got ride of 8 of our players? First, to save a lot of money for the sake of the team, its profit and of course to sign Kovalev!

Kovalev in place of 8 players that helped bring the team to the 2nd round last year?

Sounds pretty stupid.

[Fanpuck33_]

Originally posted by Ribeiro

Kovalev in place of 8 players that helped bring the team to the 2nd round last year?

Sounds pretty stupid.

Is it really?

-Juneau retired, nothing we could do about that.

-Dackell: was usually scratced

-Perraullt: didn't show up to play every night

-Sundstrom: overpaid winger who was scratched often

-Quintal: aging D-man

-Langdon: a thug, not a huge loss

-Dowd: wasn't here long, although we may still bring him back

These players did not contribute a huge amount to the Habs beating Boston in round 1. But after the wrist snafu, Kovalev, along with Koivu, put this team on their backs and won the series.

And look at our lineup for next season, assuming we sign Kovy:

Zednik-Koivu-Kovalev

Dags/Hossa-Riberio-Ryder

Bulis-Bonk-Ward

FA Thug-Begin-Prospect with chance to move up(Higgins/Plekanec?)

Markhov-Rivet

Souray-Komisarek

Bouillon-Brisebois

And this includes only 1 FA addition, and it shouldn't be hard to sign 2-3 role players to be our extras. And I think we'll sign a decent D-man so Bouillon can be the 7th. I like the looks of this lineup.

And this doesn't even include the possibility of a prospect wowing people at camp like Ryder did last season.

[Edited on 7-9-04 by Fanpuck33]

[Guy_Guy_Guy]

I dont know what you all think but if Kovalev decides to play the way in the regular season the way he did in the playoffs he could be in the top 5 scoring leaders of the league. He's fast, he has unbelivable talent, could score huge goals, and is a fairly good passer and is able to handle all the beatings on the boards which means that he's also a strong figure.

Now if Gainey could offer Kovalev 4.4 million then why not offer him a little more in order to sign him? And why did he trade Balej who was a great prospect for him afterall if he was not evengonna sign him next year and on top of that he already knew that Kovalev was worth 6.6 million. So if he doesnt sign him it means that first, we lost our top prospect in Balej for nothing, second we didnt go nowhere in the playoffs and were swept in the 2nd round, and last but not least we're gonna have to deal with losing our most talented player. (Kovalev)

[ch_nl]

I think Gainey want's him back. But what does Kovalev want.

He is not willing to play in Montreal for the money he was offered. I fear that he wan't to play in Pittsburg. I also fear that his family wants him to play in New York.

[TheAussiePosse]

I beg to differ. Dowd gave us a great 3rd line Centre, and I would have loved to have him back had we not got Bonk. He was solid defensively, played well man-to-man, and kicked Juneau's ass out of the 3rd line.

Kovalev back would be awesome, that's for sure. Dagenais on a two-way contract works, he can fill in for injuries. I'm still hoping Perezhogin will be allowed to play in the NHL with a shortened suspension, although still serving the full AHL one. If not, Hossa might finally have pulled the stick out and be ready to play. If that was the case, life could be wonderful.

Zednik-Koivu-Kovalev

Hossa/Perezhogin-Ribeiro-Ryder

Bulis-Bonk-Plekanec

Higgins-Begin-Ward

Markov-Rivet

Souray-Komisarek

Hainsey-Brisebois

but with happiness.

Happiness!

BTW, I'm writing this while waiting for my flight back to Australia. Glad to see we haven't had any detrimental losses to our team. Also glad to see we have posters in the summer, it shows fans' dedication and a board's success. Go HW

[Uwey]

Originally posted by simonus

kovalev's agent brings up a reasonable point... how much is kovalev actually worth in this market. What happens to demitra, palfy, etc will say a lot - I just hope that the habs and kovalev dont sit around gauging the market's temperature until such point as there is nobody of kovalev's level left to sign. Who knows? Perhaps it will turn out that kovalev is worth less than the original tendered contract.... would the canadiens be able to revise to a lower number without insulting kovalev and pushing him to another team? I realize that is a pretty unlikely scenario, but all I can do right now is theorize.

The problem I have with that is, if Gainey waits until the others are signed, then Kovalev decides to move on, who do they replace him with??? It is a bigger risk for the Habs to play the wait & see game, than it is for the Kovalev camp!!! I am a true believer that Selanne would be a player who could have some good chemistry with Koivu, yet sign at a reasonable price. So instead of throwing a large chunk of change at a player who wants to play elsewhere{Pittsburgh}, why not use that chunk of change to land a couple of cheaper UFA until some of the kids mature over the next several seasons??? The majority of the cash that Kovalev wants could be used to land maybe, a Selanne & a Carter/Lindros/Allison type players. True it would be some what risky, but exactly what are the expectations of this team over the next three seasons???

What we do know is Kovalev & Koivu show great chemistry together & that means more than anything else in this league to successful teams. The other thing we know is that Kovalev longs to go back to Pittsburgh to play & that may seem to hinge on Pittsburgh 's ability to sign Alexi Zhamnov at a lesser price than what Kovalev wants. It seems that recently signed Mark Recchi, is lobbying strong & hard to Mario to get Zhamnov.

Palffy & Murray are said to be asking in the $6 mill range & if that is what Kovalev is waiting for as well, he may have a long wait!!! If this is indeed the case, all three are way too expensive, IMO, for the Habs. Demitra may be the best fit after that group, but reports claim that he does not want to return to Canada!! Thus bringing me back full circle to my forementioned group.

This opinion is of a long time diehard Habs fan.

[simonus]

The majority of the cash that Kovalev wants could be used to land maybe, a Selanne & a Carter/Lindros/Allison type players.

I see what you are saying, but none of those players particularly excite me. Lindros can burn in hell and Allison is too injury-prone. Carter could end up being good and one could sign Selanne and hope that last season was a hiccup.... if we are gonna pick up some potentially damaged goods in a depressed market, I want kovalev.

[Uwey]

But does Kovalev want to be a habs???? He is in the drivers seat from that aspect, so do the Habs continue to sit & wait on his decision or forge ahead fill glaring holes until the kids are ready???

[ch_nl]

Selänne should be interesting. But Lindros?!

[Uwey]

Lindros still has talent. The question is, is there someone out there who will take a chance on him??? I think Gainey knows him from a couple of Team Canada teams that Bob was involved in & Gainey is the type of guy to give a player an opportunity to prove himself. Granted he is not the player they had projected him to be, but it might be interesting to see how he would work with Ribeiro & Ryder???

[simonus]

i dont think that lindros has that much to offer at this point in his career and is too injury-prone for his contract demands. Also - Lindros is not allowed inside the province of quebec without getting lynched. The quy definitely burned every bridge in quebec, including the champlain, cartier, and the victoria.

[JLP]

I don't think there is a single player I would want less in a habs uniform than Lindros.

Really.

[Uwey]

Fair enough. How about Anson Carter then???