Fansided

Clueless New York Rangers sign Ilya Kovalchuk

By Dane Quinn

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - APRIL 8, 2018: SKA St Petersburg's Ilya Kovalchuk before Game 6 of the 2017/2018 Kontinental Hockey League Western Conference final best-of-seven playoff between CSKA Moscow and SKA St Petersburg at CSKA Arena; CSKA Moscow won the game 3 - 2. Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS (Photo by Stanislav Krasilnikov\TASS via Getty Images)
MOSCOW, RUSSIA - APRIL 8, 2018: SKA St Petersburg's Ilya Kovalchuk before Game 6 of the 2017/2018 Kontinental Hockey League Western Conference final best-of-seven playoff between CSKA Moscow and SKA St Petersburg at CSKA Arena; CSKA Moscow won the game 3 - 2. Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS (Photo by Stanislav Krasilnikov\TASS via Getty Images) /
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Sports-Express’ Igor Eronko has learned that Russian superstar Ilya Kovalchuk has agreed to a multi-year deal with the New York Rangers. 

After years of speculation, Ilya Kovalchuk has unretired and will return to the National Hockey League. Kovalchuk retired from the NHL after signing a 15-year, $100 million contract with the New Jersey Devils. He played only three years on his historic deal before bolting to the Kontinental Hockey League. The former No. 1 overall pick of the Atlanta Thrashers plans to trade in his SKA St. Petersburg threads for a New York Rangers jersey.

The signing of Kovalchuk has raised some eyebrows in the city of New York. Normally, a team will acquire a premiere goal scorer like Kovalchuk to push the team over the hump. A signing like this is usually for teams that are close to hoisting the Stanley Cup. The Rangers aren’t that team in 2018.

The New York Rangers finished 20 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the last wild card slot in the Eastern Conference. This horrific finish cost Alain Vigneault his job as head coach of the Rangers. New York GM Jeff Gorton revealed that it was time for a change and the team needed a fresh start, according to NHL.com. Someone in New York may want to define the word fresh to Gorton. New York has been talking out of both sides of their mouth with the deals they have made in the past couple months.

The New York Rangers front office will have a lot of work to do before the puck drops in October 2018. The only answer on their roster has become a question, as Henrik Lundqvist begins to show his age in net. The firing of Vigneault forces the Rangers to lower their fishing line into the coaching pond for the first time in five years. They have already added Kovlachuk to their young core. Gorton should give the Henrik and Daniel Sedin a call to see if they are interested in signing a long term deal to play their home games at Madison Square Garden.

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Unless the Rangers know something we don’t, they are nowhere near close to winning the Stanley Cup. After unloading Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, Michael Grabner and others before the trade deadline, the Rangers set their eyes on the future. They replaced savvy veterans withr young players and future draft picks. The NHL universe believed the Blueshirts were on the right path until the signing of Kovalchuk surfaced.

It’s truly head scratching that a 35-year-old, who hasn’t played in the NHL since Manti Te’o dated Lennay Kekua, would be a vital piece to the Rangers’ puzzle. They have all but wasted Lundqvist’s hall of fame career buy paying the wrong free agents. Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik and others could never provide enough goals to support their excellent goaltender.

There is a reason that Kovalchuk only lead his team to the playoffs three times in his 12-year NHL career. Two of the three times, his team was vanquished in the first round. There is more to hockey than just sniping a puck past a goaltender’s earhole. The Atlanta Thrashers were okay with trading Kovalchuk to the Devils. After a few seasons, New Jersey didn’t shed a tear when he retired and returned home to Russia.

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TheRangers have consistently whiffed in free agency over the years. The addition of Kovlachuk to a team that clearly needs to rebuild proves the Rangers are clueless. There are countless reasons that the Rangers have only one Stanley Cup in the past 78 years. Gorton luring Kovalchuk back over the pond makes Phil Jackson’s tenure with the Knicks look outstanding. A few more confusing moves like this will cause Gorton to take the subway to the unemployment office.

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