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Well then they can wait until 3 months into next season too. It doesn't bother me.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

thats not all on him, atlanta has never been a defense first team. and just as well, his line mates dont play defense either.

and it should be noted that ilya was a + player last season for the thrashers. he may not play great defense, but kovalchuk would help any and all teams. and maybe hes not worth 10 million a season, but 8? yeah, that kind of scoring spreads to other lines as well.

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The guy couldn't even get back to Patrick Elias when he texted him. Not even an acknowledgement.

That's all I need to know about this guy.

And that's no argument against his +/-. There are other guys who had the same +/- rating as he did, and scored half or less the goals that he did.

http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/ ... 02008.html

He's a bum. Plain and simple.

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Wheelhouse

and even more of a plus player with the devils. I still don't think it'd be worth it though.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Here's an example of plenty of Thrasher's being in the + column, and Kovalchuk sucking wind at the bottom of the standings, even with all the production:

http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/ ... 02009.html

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Wheelhouse

yeah, the atlanta team he has played for isnt exactly prime beef. the top 6 in atlanta were - minus players, and the bottom 6 were plus players. thats not exactly a rarity on bad teams. kovie doesnt play defense that well, but if he were on a good team, he would be a plus player, year in, year out. so that, again, doesnt encapsulate him individually. its a team sport, and him having a bad +/- doesnt mean, hey, its ALL his fault.

and remember, a ton of his production comes from the power play, where that doesnt alter your +/- (unless you give up a shortie)... id also like to point out atlantas decent but not great goaltending. that hurts too.

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Kovalchuk, as he is, isn't worth more than a 6 million dollar cap hit.

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Wheelhouse

You wouldn't trade Vanek's 35 goals and 60-65 points a season at $7 million for Kovalchuk's 50 goals and 95 points for the same contract?

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

Did I justify Vanek's contract anywhere?

On a side note... anyone else notice that Daniel Briere led the NHL this year in playoff points?

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Wheelhouse

Just for shits and giggles, what do you think Vanek is worth if Kovy isn't worth 6?

I said Kovy isn't worth MORE than 6.

You do realize that if he gets injured after being paid 10 million per, that 1/5th of his team's salary cap is tied, right?

I'd be happy with Vanek earning what Miller's earning.

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Wheelhouse

well, if you like vanek at 6, certainly you cant justify pominville at 5.

kovie is fine, hes an offensive dynamo, and a game changer. him at 7 or even 8? id take it. hes probably not the best defensive player, or best locker room guy, but its hard to put a price on that type of talent.

and his goal production dropped off in new jersey, but he was still over a point a game player.

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The fact that there are only two teams in the NHL willing to seriously talk to him says it all to me.

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Wheelhouse

Paying Kovie is fine. Paying him close to $10m is fine. Paying him for 10 years seems much, and that's what he wants.

i bet every team wants kovie. but not for 10 years. many dont have that cap space. i highly doubt its anything personal.

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You guys know why he hasn't signed anywhere yet? He wants a high first year salary with little to no bonuses and then a low second year salary with high bonuses so he still makes a fuck-ton of money in case there's another lockout (salaries don't get paid during a lockout, but bonuses do) and NO ONE wants to bow to those demands.

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mechaphil

cant blame him for that. look at the NFL. they are fucked if there is a lockout, which, all signs point to lockout (many NFL teams are already in "lockout mode."

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To me a 10 million dollar player is a player who can score 100 points a year, contribute on the PP and can play the PK.

I would love Kovalchuk for 7 million max, he is not a player I think deserves a 10 million a year salary. He is a guy you can put the team on, but he needs to play all ends of the ice to justify a contract like that. An he needs to lead the league in more categories then what being one of the worst +/-players in the last ten years.

You need more than 4 seconds of average PK time a game. I guess he is a scorer, but Stamkos got 51 goals this year, all while being able to play 1:20 of PK TOI a game too. Even Crosby played :53 seconds a game average.

Kovalchuk is a great player, but not 10 million dollars great.

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That PK TOI stat about Stamkos impresses me a lot.

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mechaphil