The Los Angeles Kings have placed forward Ilya Kovalchuk on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract.
Ilya Kovalchuk’s Contract Terminated
The Kings haven’t played Kovalchuk for a while and his $6.25 million cap hit will remain for this and next season due to his age. The team will not however need to pay him. He received his $2.65 million bonus in his contract this past weekend. That means Kovalchuk will walk away from the remaining $4.25 million so he may leave.
And indeed, the Kings have put Kovalchuk on unconditional waivers for purpose of contract termination.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 16, 2019
Kovalchuk’s Short Stint in Los Angeles
Ilya Kovalchuk played 81 games for the Los Angeles Kings over the past two seasons. He accumulated 19 goals, 24 assists. He averaged 16:04 of ice time and was a -36 in +/-. His Corsi For was 47.0 and he had a Relative Corsi For of -2.5.
Since the Kings changed head coaches with Todd McLelland taking over, Kovalchuk’s playing time was reduced significantly. It became apparent that things weren’t working out and it’s pretty clear that Kovalchuk will want to return to the KHL to play. At age 36, it’s quite doubtful any NHL team will sign him and especially with his record of contract disputes.
Over his 13-year NHL career, Kovalchuk has played for the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, and Los Angeles Kings. During that time, he has 436 goals and 423 assists for 859 career points in 897 career games. The Thrashers originally drafted him in the first round, first overall of the 2001 NHL Draft.
What This Means for the Future
The writing was on the wall that Kovalchuk would no longer be in the future plans of the Los Angeles Kings.
There is word this afternoon that LA has informed Ilya Kovalchuk he will be out of the lineup for the foreseeable future. He is welcome to practice with the club, but he will not be playing. Obviously, more details as they occur.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 12, 2019
The 36-year-old native of Russia signed a three-year contract worth $18.75 million prior to the 2018-19 season. He has not shown much since then scoring only 19 goals, and 43 points. Kovalchuk may not be the only veteran player in jeopardy of remaining on the roster. Recently head coach Todd McLellan stated there were “some veterans that really have to pick up their play.”
Apparently Kovalchuk was first on the list. He just didn’t seem to fit in with the direction the team is headed. Unloading his hefty salary without retaining a portion of it was an objective for the Kings’ management to consider.
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