You’ve got to appreciate the Kings’ willingness to get back on that Ilya Kovalchuk horse.
The Kings are saying that if Kovalchuk’s Devils’ contract doesn’t work out, they might be interested in taking another shot at him.
Minutes after Kovalchuk signed his Devils deal, the rhetoric coming out of his camp was that he always wanted to [...]

It’s pretty perfect that Ilya Kovalchuk was signed to a massive contract by the Devils on the same day the Lightning traded for Simon Gagne.
It shows the two styles of managing in the NHL.
On the one hand, you have the Devils going for the expensive, long-term contract. In Kovalchuk’s case, it’s 17 years, $102 million, [...]

As a public service to both Ilya Kovalchuk and hockey fans, I’m going to list some things Kovalchuk could have done to prevent his extended stay in NHL Free Agent Purgatory.
Free Samples
At the end of the 2007-08 season, Marian Hossa left Pittsburgh to sign a one-year deal with Detroit. Hossa could have gotten a longer [...]

The Devils’ pursuit of Ilya Kovalchuk continues to reek of desperation.
The signing wouldn’t make sense in so many ways, yet the Devils seem determined to sign him.
First of all, there’s the cap space issue. The Devils will have to shed serious salary if they sign Kovalchuk.
It’s hard enough to dump salary in the NHL, but [...]

I’m a little bit bummed the Devils re-acquired Jason Arnott.
One thing that’s always impressed me about the Devils is that, for the most part, they hold no players sacred.
The franchise respects talent, but more often than not, they’ve either traded it away or let it walk away.
That’s because, more than players, GM Lou Lamoriello has [...]

John MacLean is finally coach of the Devils.
It’s a solid move for the team, signing a guy with no NHL-level head coaching experience but who is a genuine Devils hero.
In other words, what he lacks in experience he makes up for in street cred.
But the experience issue was obviously a significant concern as two-time Devils [...]

John Madden of the Blackhawks is finding time to stir things up.
Right in the middle of the Stanley Cup finals, he managed to take a shot at the Devils, his old team, calling the 2009-10 Blackhawks the best team he’s ever played for:
This team is way deeper. Just take a look at the lineup…This is [...]

It’s not surprising that the Flyers are struggling against the Bruins.
Without Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne, Philadelphia isn’t that hard to defend.
When Arron Asham is your offensive powerhouse, things are tough.
Asham was playing on the Flyers third line, reunited with Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk. Those guys are pretty much the only thing [...]

The Devils season is over after last night’s loss to the Flyers.
When a team implodes like the Devils did, it’s easy to blame the coach for the failings of the team, but in this case, Devils coach Jacques Lemaire needs to a lot of the blame for yet another early playoff exit for New Jersey.
As [...]

It might be a bit early to wonder about this, but will going to the Devils wind up costing Ilya Kovalchuk money in the off-season?
Kovalchuk has just two goals in the playoffs, including a powerplay goal in last night’s loss to Philadelphia. Daniel Carcillo, the Flyers fighter, has the same number of goals.
So far, Kovalchuk [...]