Ilya Kovalchuk a New Jersey Devil

[agold2121]

In Lou we trust.

What is funny is that last year NJ traded Salmela to ATL for Havelid and now they're trading him back to us .

Seriously , Oduya will be a very solid defensive D-man for the Thrashers and Bergfors could be a good 25-goal scorer for Atlanta. When i heard that 2 forwards and 1 D-man were traded , i thought Zajac and Greene were gone but THANK GOD they're still here !!!

As for the 1st round pick and as a Devils fan , i don't care since NJ will draft too high !

I can't wait to see Parise playing with Kovalchuk ! 2 of the best offensive forces in the entire league. I don't even care if Kovalchuk is not playing great without the puck when Parise and Zajac are backing him up.

[doniceage]

Here you go folks read the letter from Don Waddell before you blast him. Some of you should be blasting your team for not ponying up more for Kovy. Of course it looks like no one wanted to pony up.

After several months of negotiations toward a long-term contract with forward Ilya Kovalchuk and his agent, we were unable to reach an agreement and elected to trade Kovalchuk and defenseman Anssi Salmela to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and a first round draft pick in 2010.

We want you, our fans, to know that throughout the negotiation process, the Thrashers organization remained committed to offering Ilya a contract that exceeded those of the league’s best and highest paid players, and was commensurate to his skill level and performance history.

To that end, we offered Kovy several lucrative packages in an effort to meet his financial objectives. One offer that we extended to Ilya would have made him the highest paid NHL player on a per year average with $10 million per year for seven years. Another offer totaled more than $100 million over 12 years, and it, combined with the previous contractual commitments that were made to Kovy, would have earned him more money than any other NHL player in the history of the league.

If we had met Kovy’s ultimate demand, we would have jeopardized our ability to build a competitive team around him and retain our other young players as they became eligible for new contracts in the seasons ahead. At the end of the day, we couldn’t close that gap and simply reached a point at which we couldn’t reasonably go any higher.

We’re excited about the addition of all three players and feel that Johnny and Niclas will quickly complement our team of budding young stars, highly-skilled veterans and elite players. We also look forward to having Patrice join us in the near future. Our goals for this season have not changed—to make and advance as deep as possible in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs—and we move ahead with a new sense of purpose that is energized by our continued climb in the standings as we position ourselves to compete with the best in the NHL.

We will maintain the option of bringing in more players, in addition to the ones that we have acquired in the trade, to make sure that we are fully competitive for the remainder of the season and the postseason.

We thank Ilya and Anssi for all they have done for our organization and wish them well. And we thank you, for your continued support, and look forward to your enthusiastic presence in Blueland to help drive us into the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.



Don Waddell
Executive Vice President and General Manager
Atlanta

DON

[scottkoz20]

To that end, we offered Kovy several lucrative packages in an effort to meet his financial objectives. One offer that we extended to Ilya would have made him the highest paid NHL player on a per year average with $10 million per year for seven years. Another offer totaled more than $100 million over 12 years, and it, combined with the previous contractual commitments that were made to Kovy, would have earned him more money than any other NHL player in the history of the league.

If we had met Kovy’s ultimate demand, we would have jeopardized our ability to build a competitive team around him and retain our other young players as they became eligible for new contracts in the seasons ahead. At the end of the day, we couldn’t close that gap and simply reached a point at which we couldn’t reasonably go any higher.

maybe i'm wrong, but if Kovy would have signed that deal, I would have wondered about the future viability of the franchise in Atlanta. This might come off as a knock against hockey in the south (it's not) but when you have a financial structure where the money is more gate driven than any other resource, it's hard to imagine Atlanta surviving.

[mrbungle]

not at all because all other teams knew that Kovy would walk too if he didn't get the long term big money contract. Teams knew that what they'd be getting up will go for nothing as he will test the market. Its why its called a rental player. You don't get nearly the same value

When you put it that way it makes sense. Something in the back of my mind still says it's a bad deal for Atlanta.

[gretzky99]

if you compare this deal with the hossa deal they are similar at best. hossa was a rental and he armstrong, christensen, esposito and a first. i would argue that's just as good as oduya, bergfors, cormier and a first.

i still don't think anyone should offer Kovy $10M+/year and i hope the Kings stay away. if he wants to come to L.A. he can settle for $8.5M which is where he should be given where Ovechkin and Crosby are.