Due to the timing of the Olympic break and the trade deadline which is almost immediately afterwards….DW has to get on top of this now….time to start the bidding.

I’m curious what the ripple effect will be if Kovalchuk is moved. Will Afinogenov be willing to resign? Will Antropov want out? I’d imagine Kovalchuk was instrumental in getting both here in the first place. Will we see a complete overhaul at the deadline this year?

I was wondering when we would get around to this subject. I have no personal knowledge of the situation or the people involved. My opinion is simply that – my opinion. However, I do have some insights into the mindset of people from Russia and I can offer that. Do note that I am talking in generalities and even if most people are a certain way, that does not necessarily mean that Ilya Kovalchuk is that way.

Russians are generally a lot less enthused about living in the USA than you might think. And they are a lot more patriotic than you might think too. So yes, I certainly can see that it is possible that he may want to go to the KHL. I hate to say it, but for some Russians, money is number 1. I have no hints or guesses that Kovy is such a person, but if he is he’ll just go where the money is, which is the KHL. I think that would be a dumb idea as he didn’t exactly set the KHL on fire during the lockout.

I am sure that the Russian media reports that his agent asked for a maximum salary to stay in Atlanta are true. He’ll never get it. The question is will he settle for still what is more than he will get with any other NHL team (I don’t see any NHL team being willing to pay him over $9 million a season other than the Thrashers) or he is just going to draw a line in the sand and say if he doesn’t get the max then he is gone? I don’t know. He can still make more than Ovechkin (I think the owners may agree to that) and stay here without getting the max, but given how I think all the recent free agents have signed for less than $8 million a season, holding out for $11 million may not be realistic.

I don’t want to open up a can of worms, but early on I wondered if his wife might be part of the problem. Little is known about her except that early in their relationship she refused to move to Atlanta and lived in New York City. Almost nothing is known about her except that she was the lead singer in a manufactured Russian pop group. I don’t know why she was even in the USA in the first place. Is she pushing Kovy to get to a city where she’d rather live? Does she want to resurrect her signing career somewhere else? I have no idea, but if this is the case, he will never admit it. Russian men like to give the impression that they are in charge, but in reality the women ALWAYS call the shots in the family. If his wife has decided that she wants out, then he will NEVER re-sign here and the negotiations are simply a ploy to cover that up. Honestly, I think that this is most likely not the case, but I cannot completely rule it out.

I think I read that there is a roster freeze during the Olympics and deals cannot be made in the NHL until they are over. That really puts DW in a position to need to make a deal before the Olympics as I think he’ll have exactly 3 days in which to work after they end.

If we lose Kovy i will die :(

Think the Falconer hit it when he made the comment about Kovy either re-signing with the Thrashers or going to the KHL. One thing we can comment on is what teams would have the cap space to take on a huge long term deal, yes that can change through trades but looking at what most teams currently have on the books for next season there are few options for a high dollar long term player.

Early Feb makes sense from the team perspective as a deadline but the question that matters and only two people know the answer to is what is Kovys deadline? If he really does want to be here at what point does he tell Grossman to accept less than they are currently asking?

The rumors and team response had to happen at some point, it is really ust part of the negotiation process.