Bring on Kovalev

By Joe Starkey, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Thursday, February 24, 2011

Same old Kovy.

That was the three-word scouting report from a couple of colleagues in Ottawa on Wednesday, but it wasn’t necessarily meant as an insult to aging Senators winger Alex Kovalev. I actually considered it good news for those who want the goal-starved Penguins to rent Kovalev for the rest of the season.

I'm one of them.

We’re talking about a low-risk, potentially high-reward acquisition — and even at his enigmatic worst, Kovalev, who turns 38 on Feb. 24, couldn’t screw up a team in 20 games.

Not that he’d be a guaranteed upgrade if acquired before Monday’s 3 p.m. deadline. Far from it. Kovalev is eminently capable of making another Alex — Ponikarovsky — look like the deadline deal of the decade.

But have you seen this team try to score lately? It's was a horror show last night, even though the Penguins turned in another commendable effort while losing another game and another player. This time it was defenseman Brooks Orpik, who suffered an apparent hand injury early in a 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks.

That makes 25 goals in 12 games for the Penguins this month.

We all know the negative connotations of same old Kovy. He is as maddening as he was when he skated into the league 17 years ago. He can look like Mario Lemieux one night, Nils Ekman the next. He makes coaches miserable (just ask Senators coach Cory Clouston, with whom Kovalev has clashed).

He can break your heart.

He can also bust your system. It’s fair to wonder if Kovalev's style would mesh with that of Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. To put the contrast in swimming parlance, the Penguins prefer the freestyle relay — go straight and get there as quickly as possible — while Kovalev is liable to break into a water follies routine at any moment.

As good as Kovalev was during his Penguins years, he was prone to fits of ineptitude and apathy. The first sign of a relapse would see him mindlessly spinning in the neutral zone. One Penguins observer even dedicated a song to Kovalev, using the lyrics and music from David Bowie's “Space Oddity.”

This is ground control to Kov-a-lev.

The good news is that Kovalev can still play. He can still score. He has half as many goals (six) in his past 10 games as any Penguins player on the ice against San Jose — besides newcomer James Neal — had for the entire season.

Kovalev has nine points in 10 games since the All-Star break. He is taking advantage of increased ice time created by an injury to Daniel Alfredsson, trades, and, perhaps, the Senators’ desire to showcase him and clear his salary (about $1 million the rest of the season).

Same old Kovy means Kovalev still has those same soft hands and that same cannon shot. It means he can still get around the ice, too, despite surgery to repair a torn ACL last spring. Those who watch him nightly will tell you he has looked progressively more fluid as the season has progressed.

What do the Penguins have to lose? A conditional draft pick? A Bill Guerin-type return sounds right, a pick based on how far the Penguins advance.

No doubt, Kovalev could help on a power play that was especially brutal last night. He could even play the right point, where he flourished during his Pittsburgh incarnation.

I always believed Kovalev’s heart was in the right place, too. He wanted to win. He was just a bit quirky.

Obviously, this team's post-season fate will depend largely on Sidney Crosby's availability, and each day he stays out is a day closer to the Penguins shutting him down. But even if Crosby is shelved with post-concussion issues, these Penguins have a chance to do some playoff damage. They deserve more help.

The worst that can happen is Kovalev crumbles. The best is that he becomes energized by a return to Pittsburgh, a place he adores, and injects some life into a dying offense.

Same old Kovy?

Could be a good thing.


Analysis: Kovalev must score to win over Pens

By Rob Rossi, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Friday, February 25, 2011

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: Alex Kovalev is congratulated by teamates after his goal against the New Jersey Devils during the second period of an NHL hockey game at the Prudential Center on February 1, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

The Penguins employees who offered public praise Thursday about right wing Alex Kovalev were, well, an exclusive group. There was general manager Ray Shero and ...

That's it. That's the list.

A group of players assembled by Shero, all of whom met Kovalev last night upon his arrival at a Raleigh, N.C.-area hotel, privately confided skepticism upon learning of their newest teammate.

Kovalev, whose 38th birthday present was a return to the organization for which he scored 149 regular-season goals from 1998 to 2003, will have to prove his worth to these Penguins. To borrow from one of his new teammates: Which "Kovy" are the Penguins getting?

That is a question worth $5 million — the salary-cap hit absorbed by the Penguins for acquiring Kovalev from the Ottawa Senators for a conditional seventh-round pick at June's NHL draft. That will become a sixth-round selection if the Penguins advance to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs and Kovalev plays in 50 percent of the first-round games.

"I've been there before and had some good years," Kovalev told Ottawa reporters. "I'm excited to go to Pittsburgh and play in the playoffs again."

Kovalev is a second-time Penguin because this version of the team, riddled with injuries, can no longer score enough goals. Part of that is because they have lost 117 man-games to injury since Jan. 1. They have played the past eight games without centers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Mark Letestu and left wing Chris Kunitz — who have combined for 75 goals.

The Penguins have scored 43 goals in their past 21 games — all without leading scorer Crosby, who is out indefinitely with concussion symptoms. Their record in those contests is 10-8-3, and they have scored two goals or fewer in 11 of those games.

"Let's be honest: We have 10, 11 and 12 guys out of the lineup," Shero said. "There's no team in the league (whose) offense will come easily."

Shero is taking a low-risk/high-reward bet that offense will come from Kovalev, who is slated to play right wing on a line with center Jordan Staal and left wing James Neal tonight at Carolina.

There are reasons to believe Kovalev will be strong in stint No. 2 with the Penguins. First, he is playing for what could be his last NHL contract; this one will expire after the season.

Also, he has professed a fondness for the organization, talked of a close friendship with majority co-owner Mario Lemieux and produced consistently in the postseason with 44 goals and 98 points in 116 games.

However, Kovalev publicly clashed with Senators coach Cory Clouston, and his reputation is that of an otherworldly skilled player who is as enigmatic as his left-handed shot is powerful.

His tenure of less than two seasons with the Senators followed a run of four-plus years with Montreal, where he was beloved and often brilliant (103 goals in 314 games). That was the case during his previous stint with the Penguins, a team he reportedly never wanted to leave.

Now he is back, and as right wing Bill Guerin did two years ago, Kovalev holds the pen that could write a triumphant comeback story. Guerin was asked to restore calm to the dressing room. Kovalev needs to win over this one.

He can start by scoring some goals.