I invite you to follow myself and the Bluenote Zone over on Twitter and be sure to check out BNZ’s facebook page!
Now we all know it’s no question that the Blues are desperate for top six help. When you have Brad Winchester and Vladimir Sobotka playing top six minutes, it’s not a pretty thing. Not trying to dog on Winny and Vlad, they are good hockey players……in certain roles.
So it’s pretty obvious that trade rumor are going to arise. The most obvious, and probably the worst rumor was Bruins forward, Michael Ryder to St. Louis. Though it is pretty whitewash because people will always look and say, Blues need scoring, Ryder is expensive and hurts the Bruins cap, trade?
It doesn’t quite work out that way.
But now things are starting to get interesting. The one big rumor that is picking up some steam is that the St. Louis Blues want Alex Kovalev. Bad.
A team looking for top six help, though he is wildly inconsistent, when the guy is on, he’s still one of the best puck handlers in the NHL. He has scoring ability and his work ethic (which has been a “problem” all his career) is likely the only thing that stops him from being a top player in the league.
The rumor really started with Bruce Garrioch in one of his blogs over on the Ottawa Sun website, but then later confirmed by Pierre Lebrun on HNIC. Saying that the Blues wanted the veteran Russian.
Would Alex Kovalev help or hurt the Blues if traded for?
Now if this was anyone else, taking this rumor seriously would be less likely to happen, but Lebrun is usually dead on with his rumors so this could very well be a serious rumor. So lets take this and RUN!
Andy Strickland, is backing this rumor as well, over on truehockey.com. He let is slip that it’s very possible the Blues are interested in moving a defensemen. Now whether they could work out a deal with Ottawa for Kovalev for a D-men is yet to be seen, but that’s why we call these rumors.
The Score is jumping on board with this rumor too, but they find the Blues crazy for wanting the Russian vet. They mention Brad Boyes being shopped and could be a return for Ottawa if a deal is complete. I find this one hard to believe as the Blues are hurting for offensive help so dealing offense for offense just doesn’t fit. Granted Boyes continues to see game by game go by without tallying a goal, he’s got skill and when he simplifies his game, can be effective.
Travis Yost, Sens writer on HockeyBuzz reports that Kovalev, who has had his quarrels with Ottawa coach, Cory Clouston, made a jab at the coaching staff. This ironically saw Kovalev kicked back up off the fourth line to the top six in the game against New Jersey. Kovalev recorded an assists and registered almost nineteen minutes in ice time in a 3-2 win over the Devils that game.
So here is the question folks, with Andy McDonald, David Perron, and T.J. Oshie all out of the line up, would you try and acquire Alex Kovalev? Could a change of scenery be enough for him to pick up his offensive game? With him being an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, would you be willing to take the risk in picking him up or would you you rather try and keep plugging the hole with grinders and hope it works?
I say go ahead, make the deal, if anything, you only have to hold on to him until the end of this season. He could click with the kid who idolized him growing up in David Perron and then you could really have a scary puck handling duo on your hands there.
So I say, as long as Ottawa isn’t asking an arm and a leg, take the risk. Who knows, Kovalev could be turn out to be a nice addition for the Blues roster.
Sadly, like with all rumors, time is the only telling factor. If a deal is struck, I wouldn’t expect anything until after a new majority owner is line up which could happen just after the first of the year. So as we all wait and ponder what might be, lets hope the Blues can pull out a few more wins before the new year.