Permanent Rumour Thread

[saskhab]

Gaborik is closer and closer but i can't figure a way to fit in in the cap room.

WTF ??

This is beyond logic.

You are correct in that assumption. A significant salary deletion would be need to make this possible right now. That is unlikely, so really, I think this is just early deadline speculation/tire kicking rather than anything imminent.

Someone asked in the Florida GDT why the Habs didn't call up Greg Stewart for tonight if Begin was going to be out. The truth is, they don't really have the cap room to do even that with Chipchura back up.

[lazy26]

You are correct in that assumption. A significant salary deletion would be need to make this possible right now. That is unlikely, so really, I think this is just early deadline speculation/tire kicking rather than anything imminent.

Someone asked in the Florida GDT why the Habs didn't call up Greg Stewart for tonight if Begin was going to be out. The truth is, they don't really have the cap room to do even that with Chipchura back up.

That was me... would one game really eat up that much cap space, or is it the fact that they have to extrapolate Stewart's salary over the whole year?

[saskhab]

That was me... would one game really eat up that much cap space, or is it the fact that they have to extrapolate Stewart's salary over the whole year?

Yeah, they'd have to extrapolate Stewart's salary over the remainder of the year (174 of 186 days). Same with Chipchura.

Instead of calling up Chipchura tonight, they could've called up both D'Agostini and Stewart instead, however. Their combined cap hits fit in.

We have been fortunate in recent years not to have had to make too many cap related decisions. Other teams have been in situations like this. We might've been in some similar situations in the first year (2005-06) but I wasn't paying attention or familiar with the details back then. In reality, I only tried to understand these salary cap/injury details for in-season matters because of what happened with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last year. The NHL has a bit more of a sophisticated cap system than the CFL because of the NHLPA's disclosure of player salaries, as well as a lighter restriction regarding LTIR. In the NHL, the LTIR applies after only 10 games missed (or at least 24 days), where as in the CFL the LTIR means missing 9 games (half the schedule).

The Roughriders ended last year over the CFL's cap, as did the Allouettes, due to a massive loss of man-games due to injury. The Roughriders had to pay a fine for it, the Als were over in excess of a greater amount and lost a draft pick as well as were fined.

[lazy26]

Yeah, they'd have to extrapolate Stewart's salary over the remainder of the year (174 of 186 days). Same with Chipchura.

Instead of calling up Chipchura tonight, they could've called up both D'Agostini and Stewart instead, however. Their combined cap hits fit in.

We have been fortunate in recent years not to have had to make too many cap related decisions. Other teams have been in situations like this. We might've been in some similar situations in the first year (2005-06) but I wasn't paying attention or familiar with the details back then. In reality, I only tried to understand these salary cap/injury details for in-season matters because of what happened with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last year. The NHL has a bit more of a sophisticated cap system than the CFL because of the NHLPA's disclosure of player salaries, as well as a lighter restriction regarding LTIR. In the NHL, the LTIR applies after only 10 games missed (or at least 24 days), where as in the CFL the LTIR means missing 9 games (half the schedule).

The Roughriders ended last year over the CFL's cap, as did the Allouettes, due to a massive loss of man-games due to injury. The Roughriders had to pay a fine for it, the Als were over in excess of a greater amount and lost a draft pick as well as were fined.

Thanks for the explanation! Considering we could have called up Stewart and Dago, it's nice that the Habs brass showed Chips some respect and called him up.

[johnnyhasbeen]

Anyone have any early insight into what the new asain market tv deal brings to profit sharing and therefore to cap space?

Just another bit of money in next seasons pot. Seems we need it? Didn't expect to run into that road block in Montreal, not during the strike at least.

[BTH]

Well, at the risk of being repetitive, I too am with Wamsley. Our current model of building a contender from within, through a raft of excellent cheap young players, seems to me to be working to a 'T' - the very model of how you win in a cap system. From what I can see in this early going, we're easily in the top 5 league-wide, serious contenders as it stands. Logic says stay the course rather than lurch into a different model at the last moment. Wamsley has articulated the key principle here: never, ever, ever pay franchise-player dollars to guys who aren't franchise players in a cap system. Teams like Philly are going to rue the Briere-type deals before it's all played out.

Well, saskhab's already pointed it out but Gaborik is a franchise player. He's in the group right after Ovechkin, Malkin, Lidstrom.

I love Gaborik as a player. I just don't know if I'd trade a Tanguay, Lang, Higgins, and Halak for him. That's essentially what's being proposed here if he were to be a long term addition.

Lang will leave Montreal via free agency at the end of the season whether we get Gaborik or not. As for Halak, you can cross him out too as we'd be getting Harding.

You are correct in that assumption. A significant salary deletion would be need to make this possible right now. That is unlikely, so really, I think this is just early deadline speculation/tire kicking rather than anything imminent.

Not necessarily. Higgins, Dandenault and Bouillon's salaries add up and we can save some cash by demoting Carle who's salary's still counting against our cap. I think it comes down to us being 8000$ under the cap in the end. Maybe not the safest situation, but it is possible to do it without dumping any of our big contracts.

[Wamsley01]

The way I see it :

+The salary cap might still go up.

-Yes, Plekanec and Komisarek will get raises

+Dandenault and Bouillon will either get big cuts or won't be re-signed

+Lang will surely be replaced by Chipchura, Maxwell, or whoever

+will we be able (and willing?) to retain all of Kovalev, Tanguay and Koivu at their curent rate? maybe one of them will opt for free agency.

so I really have no doubt that we can afford him. if we get him, everything will fall into place.

question though?

Who do we (really) have to give up and are we willing to give it up?

IMO, in the long term, and at the $$ he might asks, Higgins might be more valuable than Gaborik.

Call me crazy, but to me, it amounts to have the choice between a Kirk Muller in his prime (higgins) or a Marian Hossa (Gaborik)

One is a leader, a clutch performer

The other one is a pure talent, cream puff.

We already have a LOT of pure talent (kost x 2, kovalev, tanguay, Markov), I want to keep our core of clutch (Higgins, Koivu, Komisarek) and would actually even admit that we might need more in that department.

I think it is Bettman economics to believe the cap may go up. Bettman is talking about ticket sales

that were made BEFORE the markets crashed. The first luxury boxes to go among corporate dollars

will most likely be the NHL in the US Market. The CDN $ one of the main factors in the NHL revenue

increase is down 16% since the last NHL season ended.

5-6 US NHL cities are struggling, the Red Wings were not selling out playoff games. There are cracks

in the causes of the soaring revenues. I do not expect it to go up.

As for Gaborik's ability, nobody is going to argue that he has the talent. But nobody would argue that

Kovalev has top 5 talent and has been rarely mentioned in his career as a top 5 player. Kovalev is extremely

durable compared to Gaborik as well. Ability does not equal greatness. Abilitly + dogged determination does.

With the position the Habs are in right now, they do not need to be taking chances on a guy like Gaborik

when they will know after this year how Tanguay fits in. Tanguay will be alot cheaper than Gaborik,

has been more productive in his career (0.89PPG to 0.85PPG) and has remained healthy.

Like I said, some players are consistently overrated and some like Tanguay are consistently underappreciated.

I will take Tanguay at 5-6M any day over Gaborik and his 8-9M. That 3M will go a long way to resigning

Lats, Price, Komisarek, Sergei, Pleks.

Edited October 20, 2008 by Wamsley01

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Gaborik is not a franchise player. He has the POTENTIAL to be. Big difference there. And a lot of "ifs." (IF he has the desire...and his playoff record is not promising in this regard; IF he has the character...and his puling over salary is not promising in this regard; and IF he has the durability...and here, give me a break. He is brittle as an egg).

So he's closer to Havlat than Crosby in my book. Believing that he miraculously turn into an iron man in Montreal seems naive.

But what I really don't understand is: what problem is the acquisition of Gaborik meant to solve? We already have the league's best offence. Plus we have incredible depth. Why damage the latter for more of the former? Sundin would have solved our lack of a big, powerful offensive centreman. Gaborik's a winger - so the 'problem' at C remains. In short, Gaborik is the answer to a question nobody asked: "how can Montreal get more offence from the wing?"

This rumour is bizarre IMHO. I don't blame Gainey for sniffing around, because Gaborik IS a terrific talent. But serious trade talks? Like I say...bizarre. I think Gainey is just exploring options in the event that he can't re-sign Kovy/Koivu...IF there's anything to this at all.

[Wamsley01]

Gaborik is not a franchise player. He has the POTENTIAL to be. Big difference there. And a lot of "ifs." (IF he has the desire...and his playoff record is not promising in this regard; IF he has the character...and his puling over salary is not promising in this regard; and IF he has the durability...and here, give me a break. He is brittle as an egg).

So he's closer to Havlat than Crosby in my book. Believing that he miraculously turn into an iron man in Montreal seems naive.

But what I really don't understand is: what problem is the acquisition of Gaborik meant to solve? We already have the league's best offence. Plus we have incredible depth. Why damage the latter for more of the former? Sundin would have solved our lack of a big, powerful offensive centreman. Gaborik's a winger - so the 'problem' at C remains. In short, Gaborik is the answer to a question nobody asked: "how can Montreal get more offence from the wing?"

This rumour is bizarre IMHO. I don't blame Gainey for sniffing around, because Gaborik IS a terrific talent. But serious trade talks? Like I say...bizarre. I think Gainey is just exploring options in the event that he can't re-sign Kovy/Koivu...IF there's anything to this at all.

It is the fantasy GM in everybody. Lets get as many big names as possible.

The Habs are 5-0-1. The best team the less than 20 crowd has ever seen, and the best team since

the 1993 Champions. And people want to ###### up the cap for an underachieving, injury prone player

who is bickering over a contract that would have paid him 80M per year.

This team does not need Gaborik and his monster salary. I trust Gainey has not suffered any head

trauma over the last 48 hours and expect that it is a nonsensical Eklund type rumour.

[MMPL]

It is the fantasy GM in everybody. Lets get as many big names as possible.

The Habs are 5-0-1. The best team the less than 20 crowd has ever seen, and the best team since

the 1993 Champions. And people want to ###### up the cap for an underachieving, injury prone player

who is bickering over a contract that would have paid him 80M per year.

This team does not need Gaborik and his monster salary. I trust Gainey has not suffered any head

trauma over the last 48 hours and expect that it is a nonsensical Eklund type rumour.

So very true...

Why mess with success??

Maybe if we feel we need something later on then we can do it at the deadline, but Gaborik now is just nonsense.

Edited October 21, 2008 by MMPL

[Mont Royale]

a nonsensical Eklund type rumour.

Being redundant there..

[Chuko]

The Gaborik to Mtl rumor just isn't going away. Last week there was an article in a Buffalo paper about talks between Gainey and Risebrough, and today there is a similar article in a Minnesota paper.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/314...yKUnciaec8O7EyU

So it certainly isn't just coming out of the Montreal media. Where there's smoke, there's fire.

I've been reading everyone's comments about why it's not a good idea to bring Gabby to Mtl, i.e. present and future cap issues, injury-prone player, team chemistry, etc... All of these comments make sense and have merit. But I also believe Gainey is the type of GM who can smell blood and understands that it's all about winning the Cup when the opportunity presents itself. With the team we have, and with it being the Habs centennial, there is no better scenario than to win the Cup NOW.

Gainey did a similar type deal when he was in Dallas and traded a young Jarome Iginla for Joe Nieuwendyk. The Stars went on to win the Cup.

If it comes down to a deal that is of the type Higgins-McDonagh for Gaborik and Gainey could figure a cap solution, I think he pulls the trigger and I would certainly approve.

[HABBER-oooooKNOWS]

The Gaborik to Mtl rumor just isn't going away. Last week there was an article in a Buffalo paper about talks between Gainey and Risebrough, and today there is a similar article in a Minnesota paper.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/314...yKUnciaec8O7EyU

So it certainly isn't just coming out of the Montreal media. Where there's smoke, there's fire.

I've been reading everyone's comments about why it's not a good idea to bring Gabby to Mtl, i.e. present and future cap issues, injury-prone player, team chemistry, etc... All of these comments make sense and have merit. But I also believe Gainey is the type of GM who can smell blood and understands that it's all about winning the Cup when the opportunity presents itself. With the team we have, and with it being the Habs centennial, there is no better scenario than to win the Cup NOW.

Gainey did a similar type deal when he was in Dallas and traded a young Jarome Iginla for Joe Nieuwendyk. The Stars went on to win the Cup.

If it comes down to a deal that is of the type Higgins-McDonagh for Gaborik and Gainey could figure a cap solution, I think he pulls the trigger and I would certainly approve.

Many have shed a light on the cap problems this would create. I tend to agree with all of them as well that this could really blow up in our face for sure, but like you, if Gainey could make sense out of this and do something creative I would welcome the trade. Gaborik would be worth it.

Listen guys when you really think about it, it just may be time to let Kovalev go after this year, same with Lang. Saks may take a discount, I don't think it's about money for him. The shitty part of this is losing prospects, but hey we do have too many of them. I remember not too long ago we could never even dream of a trade like this simply because we had nothing to give, well, we have plenty now.

The other thing is, all sources are pointing to this being real. It's not an EK fabrication, plus I would rather have Gaborik now then in March so he can gel with the team throughout the season. I'd let Higgins go.

[JoeLassister]

Gainey did a similar type deal when he was in Dallas and traded a young Jarome Iginla for Joe Nieuwendyk. The Stars went on to win the Cup.

The problem here is that Gaborik would have no kind of leadership on this team while a guy like Nieuwendyk was like a 2nd or even 3rd captain.

IMO, Gaborik doesn't mean a Stanley Cup at all.

[Colin]

As per TSN, apparently Risebrough has offered Gabby to teams already. We have been inundated by comments of Gabby to Montreal this past week. One can deduce that Montreal was the team Risebrough contacted. TSN states definitively that:

"the executive said he was not interested."

If, therefore, events were as described this past week and that Montreal was indeed approached about Gabby, perhaps it's time to put the rumours to bed, because presumably Bob said no.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=253306&amp...=headlines_main

[MAK]

I might be for a trade with minny but please do not include Mcdonagh.

On draft day 07 on TSN, Doug MacClean kept on bringing McDonagh'sname. One thing he did say is that he was really high on their list and would've taken him should voracek not been there ( thanks LA for picking Hickey !!)

I also remember Gainey trying to move up to secure McDonagh.

Seeing him being on a point per game rate so far in his sophomore year tells me how talented he his.

Such a talented D man should be kept over and let him grow up in the system.

if we have a D to sacrifice in order to get a deal done, why not on of the smaller kids like Weber or subban ??

[Habsfan]

As per TSN, apparently Risebrough has offered Gabby to teams already. We have been inundated by comments of Gabby to Montreal this past week. One can deduce that Montreal was the team Risebrough contacted. TSN states definitively that:

"the executive said he was not interested."

If, therefore, events were as described this past week and that Montreal was indeed approached about Gabby, perhaps it's time to put the rumours to bed, because presumably Bob said no.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=253306&amp...=headlines_main

Apparently there was another team mentionned. The L.A. Kings....who knows which team it was that said it wasn't interested!?

[CerebusClone]

Gaborik is not a franchise player. He has the POTENTIAL to be. Big difference there. And a lot of "ifs." (IF he has the desire...and his playoff record is not promising in this regard; IF he has the character...and his puling over salary is not promising in this regard; and IF he has the durability...and here, give me a break. He is brittle as an egg).

I don't think Gaborik even at his very best should be considered a franchise player, ar least not in my book. He may have the talent to be one of the premier goal scorers in the NHL, however to me a franchise forward is much more than that; it's a complete player who can create scoring opportunities in several different ways, it's a guy who can play in any game situation, it's a great leader on the ice, it's a guy who can carry the team at times on his shoulders, it's a guy displaying great consistency and performs in clutch situations ... in other words it's a lot more than just an offensive threat, no matter how many points the guy puts up during a season.

As for Gaborik's ability, nobody is going to argue that he has the talent. But nobody would argue that

Kovalev has top 5 talent and has been rarely mentioned in his career as a top 5 player. Kovalev is extremely

durable compared to Gaborik as well. Ability does not equal greatness. Abilitly + dogged determination does.

I personally don't think determination has ever been Kovalev's problem, I've said for a long time that despite the fact that he has elite game-breaking abilities, I don't think he has the hockey sense to match them. To me it's never been a question of heart or determination, but rather poor decision making skills; too often Kovalev makes the wrong play, such as holding on the puck too long and costing his team the control of the puck, looking for the perfect play when simply passing the puck to an open teammate would have kept a good flow going, and other things like that that sometimes cause a lot of turnovers and wasted opportunities.

Ordinary players have had fantastic careers because they were always at the right at the right time, and because they always seemed to make the right play at the right time... Kovalev always seems to force his way in using pure skills; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't... right now it's not working so much - just like it didn't during the last playoffs -yet to me Kovalev looks like the exact same player.

[Colin]

Apparently there was another team mentionned. The L.A. Kings....who knows which team it was that said it wasn't interested!?

No one. But circumstantial evidence says it was Montreal that spoke with Minnesota. Add to that the fact that it's virtually impossible with the cap situation, and I think it's safe to put this one to bed for now. Maybe there's another rumour we can all talk about. Kordic to Toronto for Courtnall, perhaps.

[saskhab]

As per TSN, apparently Risebrough has offered Gabby to teams already. We have been inundated by comments of Gabby to Montreal this past week. One can deduce that Montreal was the team Risebrough contacted. TSN states definitively that:

"the executive said he was not interested."

If, therefore, events were as described this past week and that Montreal was indeed approached about Gabby, perhaps it's time to put the rumours to bed, because presumably Bob said no.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=253306&amp...=headlines_main

Word on Minny blogs is that the team executive that leaked this was actually a Philly representative, but that could easily be hogwash as well.

If a team is trying to move a player, they'll ask a lot of teams hoping to start a bidding war.

[johnnyhasbeen]

Ok, this all being hypothetical, let's picture this for a second.

Tanguay Koivu Gaborik

That would be a scary first line, I really believe a gifted goal score is missing. I also believe he is here but not of age yet in SKost.

To get this guy as a rental, if it could work puts this team way over the top. It is Ottawa adding Heatley, but we know the habs don't choke!

Those two guys with a finisher, that's what I am talking about.

We would all like too keep all our young players that we have followed since draft day, and we also want to keep most of our rfa and ufa's.

We also want to see Max Pac and Chipchura and maybe Maxwell and Stewart have regular spots next year.

Is there a spot for Higgins ? I hope so. He is a true habs at heart. That is hard to come by. Another 30 goal man.

WHen do we get a 50 goal man? 60?

Been awhile and I miss it.

Oh, and I still want the rest of the forwards to be mostly 30 goal guys!

Right now, what do we have? Probably 9 30 goal guys or something? Not bad!

[Wamsley01]

I don't think Gaborik even at his very best should be considered a franchise player, ar least not in my book. He may have the talent to be one of the premier goal scorers in the NHL, however to me a franchise forward is much more than that; it's a complete player who can create scoring opportunities in several different ways, it's a guy who can play in any game situation, it's a great leader on the ice, it's a guy who can carry the team at times on his shoulders, it's a guy displaying great consistency and performs in clutch situations ... in other words it's a lot more than just an offensive threat, no matter how many points the guy puts up during a season.

I personally don't think determination has ever been Kovalev's problem, I've said for a long time that despite the fact that he has elite game-breaking abilities, I don't think he has the hockey sense to match them. To me it's never been a question of heart or determination, but rather poor decision making skills; too often Kovalev makes the wrong play, such as holding on the puck too long and costing his team the control of the puck, looking for the perfect play when simply passing the puck to an open teammate would have kept a good flow going, and other things like that that sometimes cause a lot of turnovers and wasted opportunities.

Ordinary players have had fantastic careers because they were always at the right at the right time, and because they always seemed to make the right play at the right time... Kovalev always seems to force his way in using pure skills; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't... right now it's not working so much - just like it didn't during the last playoffs -yet to me Kovalev looks like the exact same player.

He didn't look that determined in 2007. Kovalev has been known to take nights off and his effort has not always

been there. A guy with that type of skill would have to have terrible hockey sense to put up 45 or 47 points.

He has shown what he can do when determined, and this is not a criticism of him in the last year and a bit.

But potential and talent do not equal superstar as far as I am concerned.

As for Gaborik, the only way I would endorse a deal for him would be a straight rental where the habs give up

a marginal prospect, a conditional pick and a borderline NHLer. That way he can walk and the Habs are none

worse for wear in regards to the cap, losing cheap depth players and losing a valuable pick. If the condition on

the pick is a first rounder with a Cup win, then who cares about the pick, we just won the Cup.

Other than that, I would not touch him with a ten foot pole.

Edited October 22, 2008 by Wamsley01

[Habsfan]

As for Gaborik, the only way I would endorse a deal for him would be a straight rental where the habs give up

a marginal prospect, a conditional pick and a borderline NHLer. That way he can walk and the Habs are none

worse for wear in regards to the cap, losing cheap depth players and losing a valuable pick. If the condition on

the pick is a first rounder with a Cup win, then who cares about the pick, we just won the Cup.

Other than that, I would not touch him with a ten foot pole.

I completely agree!

[HABBER-oooooKNOWS]

He didn't look that determined in 2007. Kovalev has been known to take nights off and his effort has not always

been there. A guy with that type of skill would have to have terrible hockey sense to put up 45 or 47 points.

He has shown what he can do when determined, and this is not a criticism of him in the last year and a bit.

But potential and talent do not equal superstar as far as I am concerned.

As for Gaborik, the only way I would endorse a deal for him would be a straight rental where the habs give up

a marginal prospect, a conditional pick and a borderline NHLer. That way he can walk and the Habs are none

worse for wear in regards to the cap, losing cheap depth players and losing a valuable pick. If the condition on

the pick is a first rounder with a Cup win, then who cares about the pick, we just won the Cup.

Other than that, I would not touch him with a ten foot pole.

So you are warming up to the idea?

[BTH]

Gaborik is not a franchise player. He has the POTENTIAL to be. Big difference there. And a lot of "ifs." (IF he has the desire...and his playoff record is not promising in this regard; IF he has the character...and his puling over salary is not promising in this regard; and IF he has the durability...and here, give me a break. He is brittle as an egg).

So he's closer to Havlat than Crosby in my book. Believing that he miraculously turn into an iron man in Montreal seems naive.

But what I really don't understand is: what problem is the acquisition of Gaborik meant to solve? We already have the league's best offence. Plus we have incredible depth. Why damage the latter for more of the former? Sundin would have solved our lack of a big, powerful offensive centreman. Gaborik's a winger - so the 'problem' at C remains. In short, Gaborik is the answer to a question nobody asked: "how can Montreal get more offence from the wing?"

This rumour is bizarre IMHO. I don't blame Gainey for sniffing around, because Gaborik IS a terrific talent. But serious trade talks? Like I say...bizarre. I think Gainey is just exploring options in the event that he can't re-sign Kovy/Koivu...IF there's anything to this at all.

If we're going to re-sign him then he would be a long-term fix. With Lang, Koivu and Kovalev close to the end of their careers, I don't think a team of Plekanec, Higgins, the Kosties, Latendresse and Pacioretty will be enough. Maybe Gainey wants to have that elite offensive player locked up.

I don't think Gaborik even at his very best should be considered a franchise player, ar least not in my book. He may have the talent to be one of the premier goal scorers in the NHL, however to me a franchise forward is much more than that; it's a complete player who can create scoring opportunities in several different ways, it's a guy who can play in any game situation, it's a great leader on the ice, it's a guy who can carry the team at times on his shoulders, it's a guy displaying great consistency and performs in clutch situations ... in other words it's a lot more than just an offensive threat, no matter how many points the guy puts up during a season.

You're criticizing his playoff numbers? You were one of the ones who said that Hossa's crappy playoff numbers should not be a factor in our talks to acquire him. By the way, this Gaborik situation is virtually identical to the Hossa one and that had a lot more support. It was also well-known that Hossa would be going for 8 million dollars (he winded up taking a bit less to sign with Detroit but he would have wanted 8+ from any other team) and the trade rumours also included some worthwhile parts (a 1st that brought in Tanguay, Ryan O'Byrne, Lapierre).

I personally don't think determination has ever been Kovalev's problem, I've said for a long time that despite the fact that he has elite game-breaking abilities, I don't think he has the hockey sense to match them. To me it's never been a question of heart or determination, but rather poor decision making skills; too often Kovalev makes the wrong play, such as holding on the puck too long and costing his team the control of the puck, looking for the perfect play when simply passing the puck to an open teammate would have kept a good flow going, and other things like that that sometimes cause a lot of turnovers and wasted opportunities.

Ordinary players have had fantastic careers because they were always at the right at the right time, and because they always seemed to make the right play at the right time... Kovalev always seems to force his way in using pure skills; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't... right now it's not working so much - just like it didn't during the last playoffs -yet to me Kovalev looks like the exact same player.

He went a point per game and was our best forward. Why are people still complaining about his playoff performance?

But you are right that he is playing exactly like he did last year but just isn't getting points.