Well look at this. Here I am bitching about the AJC's lack of Contractgate coverage and here's Chris Vivlamore getting the hot scoop:
Thrashers general manager Don Waddell said Monday that he is not actively seeking to trade star Ilya Kovalchuk. However, a trade is a possibility should a new contract agreement not be reached.
Waddell told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in May that he would unequivocally not trade Kovalchuk, who will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, even if contract talks reached an impasse.
“Our first priority still remains to sign him,” Waddell told the AJC Monday. “That’s clear. I probably didn’t leave the door open enough at the beginning of the year because, obviously, I was hoping that this would be long done by now. We also have to protect the asset. He’s an asset to our franchise. …
“[A trade] still looms as an option, but it’s not my first choice.”
Waddell said that both sides – the Thrashers and Kovalchuk and his agent Jay Grossman – have proposals on the table.
“We are at a difference of what the player should be paid,” Waddell said. “It has nothing to do with Kovy being a great player, being our franchise player. It has everything to do that we do this and still have room that we can continue to grow this franchise.”
The NHL trade deadline is March 3. No league transactions can be made during the two-week Olympic break, which begins Feb. 14.
Waddell also said there is an option to play out the season with Kovalchuk on the roster and attempt to re-sign him at a later date.
I try to control my urge to exaggerate, I really do. But...this is a disaster. Just saying.
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6 comments:
But...this is a disaster.
Being a hockey fan in Atlanta is somewhat of a self-serving dysfunction.
So..so...so very royally screwed.
As each day goes by I am less and less interested in him being signed. It concerns me that it is now clear that it is a negotiation of $ per year. I love having Kovy on the team, but not at $10M or more. I'm not looking to get Shooter all angry by bringing up +/- and all, but nobody would ever call Kovy a 2-way player. I just think for $10M+ you have to be the toal package, and he is not. He is one of the top 10 great scorers in the league, and that is a fact, but not sure it is worth all that money. To me, anything over $9M a year screws this franchise about as bad as him leaving. If DW can't get this deal done by end of this month, then I say actively get bids and get the best deal you can get for him before Olympics, UNLESS, we are in playoff hunt, but even then I'd think about seeing what deal you can get. Don't take someone elses garbage, but if you can get 20-something year old assets (projected top 6 forward or top 4 D-man) and a pick and prospect.....DO IT. IMHO.
If what I read from Pagnotta of the Fourth Period site is valid, then perhaps it makes sense that DWad would try to leak contract numbers at the Casino Night function to make Grossman and Kovy out as greedy. Some chick was spewing crap on the Thrashers site's message board that Donnie told her the deal on the table was for 12 years, $8.33 M per (a cool hundred mill) season.
If that were true, then Shooter would have complete and total vindication that his hero is not the greediest SOB ever asking for max Cap. Not that I would put it past Grossman, but I don't even think that jackalope sincerely believes he can get his client $11.36 M per without a Stanley Cup ring let alone a playoff win.
If you roll over when Hitler takes Poland (give in to Kovy's entire salary demand as an RFA) then why wouldn't he invade France (hold out through September to get max value)?
Like you said Razor, he probably can't get "max" value from many teams, if any. It obviously depends on their definition of maximized market value. There are what, 4 or 5 teams that could probably afford him without seriously destroying their roster: NYR, LA, Bos, Tor and ATL. I'm not sure if NY has as many UFA's as I think, but you know Sather will do just about anything.
But Waddell should have realized this fact long ago and played hardball from the very start. It's not as though Grossman is a kindler, gentler form of Satan! He's still the same dick that held us hostage in 2005. So while your point about him "owning" Waddell is valid, at the same time, Waddell still has the power to trade his Russian ass. That should have been made clear from the get-go. But DWad is too busy trying to make friends and get autographs from players to ever use the appropriate tact for a big-time dollar negotiation such as this.
Fuck it, bring me Wayne Simmonds already would ya??
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