{"id":30745,"date":"2018-06-10T23:15:52","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T03:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=30745"},"modified":"2020-12-21T14:44:56","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T19:44:56","slug":"nhl-off-season-rumours-ilya-kovalchuk-paul-stastny-phil-kessel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/06\/10\/nhl-off-season-rumours-ilya-kovalchuk-paul-stastny-phil-kessel\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Off-Season Rumours: Ilya Kovalchuk, Paul Stastny, Phil Kessel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s time for another edition of NHL off-season rumours. There will be a lot of speculation on what players may be on the move before the start of free agency on July 1. Some big names could be on the move, including <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kovalil01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ilya Kovalchuk.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Today we talk about Kovalchuk and his tour of California, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/stastpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Stastny<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s possible return to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/blues\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">St. Louis Blues<\/a> and the rising trade talk of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kesseph01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Phil Kessel<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h1><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kovalil01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ilya Kovalchuk<\/a><\/h1>\n<p><em>Rumour:<\/em> Darren Dreger of TSN reported that the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/kings\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Los Angels Kings<\/a> and the Russian forward met on Saturday. The same report stated that the 35-year-old forward would meet with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/sharks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Jose Sharks<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ilya Kovalchuk in California this weekend.  Visited with the LA Kings yesterday and will meet with the Sharks tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DarrenDreger\/status\/1005573011062353921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 9, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> The Kings expressed interest in Kovalchuk in 2010 before he ultimately decided to play for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/devils\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Jersey Devils<\/a>. He had a great season with CSKA Moscow of the KHL with 31 goals and 32 assists to lead the league. A move to Los Angeles would bolster an offense that fizzled out late in the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>The Sharks have four forwards in <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/w\/wardjo02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Ward<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/thornjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Thornton<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/fehrer01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eric Fehr<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hanseja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jannik Hansen<\/a><\/strong> that are over 30 years old and heading into free agency. San Jose will have some decisions to make and adding Kovalchuk would muddy the waters.<\/p>\n<h1><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/stastpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Stastny<\/a><\/h1>\n<p><em>Rumour:<\/em> Stastny <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogtalkradio.com\/hockeysense\/2018\/05\/25\/segment-3--paul-stastny-52518\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told Hockey Sense host Andy Strickland of 590 The Fan<\/a> in St. Louis that he\u2019d be open to coming back to St. Louis. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/jets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Winnipeg Jets<\/a> acquired Stastny at the Feb. 26 trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> The 32-year-old made a big impact in the playoffs after being injured most of the season. He scored a pair of goals in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Nashville Predators. Stastny was an integral part of<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lainepa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrik Laine<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s 15-game point streak at the end of the season.<\/p>\n<p>He said that waiving his no-trade clause was the best decision of his career. He\u2019ll have a hard decision on if he returns to the Blues or stays with the contending Jets.<\/p>\n<h1><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kesseph01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Phil Kessel<\/a><\/h1>\n<p><em>Rumour:<\/em> Josh Yohe of <em>The Athletic<\/em> reported that &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/369506\/2018\/05\/29\/the-truth-about-phil-kessel-mike-sullivan-and-the-penguins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">all is not well i<\/a>n the relationship between Kessel and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/penguins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> head coach<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/sullimi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Sullivan<\/a><\/strong>.&#8221; The situation has gotten problematic, according to Yohe.<\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> Penguins\u2019 general manager <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/rutheji01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jim Rutherford<\/a><\/strong> said things were \u201cblown out of proportion\u201d after\u00a0Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review followed up. Kessel carries a $6.8 million cap hit until 2022. Clearing his contract off would help give Pittsburgh some breathing room, but Kessel does have a modified no-trade clause.<\/p>\n<p>The American forward is a winner and would be a big addition to any offence. However, he comes at a hefty price tag.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"MAUEb1V1Sgx0TTNjuhQOaA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/923973508\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'MAUEb1V1Sgx0TTNjuhQOaA',sig:'t-GQWHAMPY74RWZ8LbfouiYpHh3J1q2Qj9pryPno-og=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'923973508',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s time for another edition of NHL off-season rumours. There will be a lot of speculation on what players may be on the move before the start of free agency on July 1. Some big names could be on the move, including Ilya Kovalchuk. Today we talk about Kovalchuk and his tour of California, Paul [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":30754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2003,12,4321],"tags":[1624,517,78,5715,1045,128,44,117,39],"class_list":["post-30745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kings","category-khl","category-penguins","category-rumours","tag-ilya-kovalchuk","tag-khl","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-nhl-rumors","tag-paul-stastny","tag-phil-kessel","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-st-louis-blues"],"modified_by":"Daniel Brown, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}