Headlines

  • Avalanche Sign Jared Bednar To Contract Extension
  • Philadelphia Flyers Fire Chuck Fletcher
  • Boston Bruins Extend David Pastrnak
  • Boston Bruins Acquire Tyler Bertuzzi
  • Ottawa Senators Acquire Jakob Chychrun
  • Detroit Red Wings Extend Dylan Larkin
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Capitals Acquire Ilya Kovalchuk

February 23, 2020 at 7:18 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 12 Comments

The Capitals have added some offensive depth for the stretch run as they have acquired winger Ilya Kovalchuk from the Canadiens in exchange for their 2020 third-round pick.  Both teams have confirmed the swap.  The 36-year-old will now be joining his third team of the season.

Kovalchuk started the season with the Kings but some early season struggles led to a long-term stint as a healthy scratch.  Once the remainder of his signing bonus was paid out, the two sides agreed to a mutual contract termination.  However, it took until early January for him to find a new home when he joined Montreal.

He made an immediate impact with the Canadiens, recording five goals and five assists over his first dozen games with the team.  While he tailed off a bit since then, he leaves them with 13 points over 22 contests which is a pretty good return on a pro-rated league minimum contract of $700K.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that Montreal will retain half of that on their books as part of the deal.

While he averaged nearly 19 minutes a night with the Canadiens, his role will likely be much lower with Washington.  Kovalchuk should slot in on their third line and give them another weapon for an already strong power play.  It’s a reasonable price tag to pay for veteran depth while for Montreal, they turn someone they signed for nothing into another draft pick, giving them 13 for the upcoming draft which they will host in June.

Kovalchuk is now on the books for four different teams at the same time which is a first.  He’s on New Jersey’s cap for salary cap recapture from his initial retirement.  He remains on Los Angeles’ books as his contract was a 35+ deal so despite the termination, his full cap hit remains.  Meanwhile, Montreal and Washington are both responsible for a pro-rated $350K from this deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Ilya Kovalchuk| Montreal Canadiens| Newsstand| Washington Capitals

Lightning Sign Zach Bogosian
Main
Trade Deadline Primer: St. Louis Blues
View Comments (12)
newest oldest

Comments

  1. unfazed

    3 years ago

    Montreal gets garbage in return as usual

    Reply
    • bigdaddyt

      3 years ago

      Considering they got him for free spent about 150k of his pro rated contract to try to get back into a playoff race and then when that failed flipped for a 3rd. That doesn’t sound like a garbage return at all

      1
      Reply
    • amk3510

      3 years ago

      This is a guy that no one wanted to touch with a 50 ft pole. Getting a 3rd round pick for free is not a garbage return.

      1
      Reply
    • M34

      3 years ago

      I see this as a fantastic deal for Montreal. For both teams really. Washington is going to be all in on a cup window before it becomes rebuild time, and a 36 year old kovalchuk for a 3rd and basically no cap hit is like winning the lottery when your team is already as stacked as it is.
      Montreal now has even more ammunition to shape their roster. They can package picks together to move up for guys they really like, trade for pieces to keep themselves competitive, pretty much whatever they want to do.

      1
      Reply
    • DarkSide830

      3 years ago

      that was with LA. its probably been well the opposite since.

      Reply
  2. Ajc38

    3 years ago

    I need to see an Ovechkin- kuzy- kovalchuk line immediately

    Reply
    • uvmfiji

      3 years ago

      Why not get Alex Semin as well?

      Reply
  3. Mark Black

    3 years ago

    Found money. The type of deals that Bergevin usually gets the better of. It’s the bigger deals that sometimes leaves you wanting more.

    1
    Reply
  4. 66TheNumberOfTheBest

    3 years ago

    I dislike this deal for the Caps, the Habs and for Kovalchuk.

    This is a 4th round pick, more or less. Pretty measly return for one of the few guys with life on your team. And Ilya should have clung to a place he was wanted.

    Unless Oshie or Wilson got hurt and we don’t know it, this makes no sense for the Caps. He’s going to play in your bottom 6?

    Reply
    • SuperSinker

      3 years ago

      Except it’s not a 4th round pick lol getting a top ~90 pick for a guy you picked up off the trash heap a month ago is found money.

      It’s pretty clear Bergevin wanted to do right for Ilya, and I could 100% see him back in Montreal after this cup run. Win-win-win.

      Reply
    • JT19

      3 years ago

      I mean its a scoring depth move for them. They didn’t give up a super vauable asset and his cap hit is cheap. Montreal gets an asset, even if its only a third rounder, for a guy they basically picked up off the scrap heap not too long ago. Sure they could’ve kept him, but if they’re not going anywhere this season, might as well get as many assets as possible. And I’m pretty sure Kovalchuk had little to no say about him being traded.

      Reply
    • astrosticks

      3 years ago

      Good trade. They are done for the season, and could always resign him next year!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Avalanche Sign Jared Bednar To Contract Extension

    Philadelphia Flyers Fire Chuck Fletcher

    Boston Bruins Extend David Pastrnak

    Boston Bruins Acquire Tyler Bertuzzi

    Ottawa Senators Acquire Jakob Chychrun

    Detroit Red Wings Extend Dylan Larkin

    New York Rangers Acquire Patrick Kane

    Edmonton Oilers Acquire Mattias Ekholm

    Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty

    New Jersey Devils Acquire Timo Meier

    Recent

    College Notes: Farrell, Boston University, Minnesota, Gibson

    Penguins Reassign Dustin Tokarski

    Blackhawks Send Down Anton Khudobin

    West Notes: Kurashev, Kolesar, Johnsson, Knyzhov

    Robert Mastrosimone Unlikely To Sign With Detroit

    College Notes: Polin, Colangelo, Quillan

    Lightning Prospect Isaac Howard Transfers To Michigan State

    Sharks Sign Henry Thrun

    East Notes: Roslovic, Harris, Joseph, Greig

    Jakob Chychrun To Miss Multiple Weeks

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Coyotes Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version