Kovalchuk merely played with the idea of joining the Kings this summer – publicly, at least — before re-signing with the Devils for $100 million over 15 years after a well-documented contract battle with the league. Privately it’s worth debating whether or not Kovalchuk had any intention of signing somewhere other than New Jersey.

AROUND THE PACIFIC

It’s something Kings fans have pondered plenty, which is why it won’t be just another hockey game when the Devils visit the Kings on Saturday.

The Devils may have won the bidding war for Kovalchuk, but the Kings have the bragging rights. Pressed against the salary-cap ceiling, unable to replace injured players and hemorrhaging goals, New Jersey is off to a 2-6-1 start.

The Kings, meanwhile, are 6-2-0 after beating the Wild in Minnesota in a shootout Monday night. Their offense has struggled at times, but is still scoring at a better-than-average clip of 2.88 goals per game.

They have been led, as expected, by a solid defense and outstanding goaltending. Jonathan Quick (1.95 goals against average, .926 save percentage) and Jonathan Bernier (2.50/.918) are among the league leaders in the important statistical categories, and have so far realized their potential as a dangerous 1-2 duo.

Defenseman Willie Mitchell, whom the Kings signed after Kovalchuk fell through, has a team-best plus-4 rating. He was paired with Drew Doughty until the Norris Trophy finalist was lost to a concussion Wednesday. Even before the injury, Doughty wasn’t exactly racking up the points (just one assist through five games). The more impressive statistic was that none of the Los Angeles defensemen had a minus rating entering Monday’s game.

If he isn’t scratched, Kovalchuk can expect a hearty round of boos when he takes the ice at Staples Center.

But the battle for bragging rights shouldn’t obscure the cavalcade of bad luck that contributed to the Devils’ current predicament.
 

The dominoes only began to fall after Kovalchuk signed his original 17-year, $102 million contract, which was subsequently voided by the NHL. It took a ruling in arbitration court to uphold the NHL’s position that the front-loaded deal circumvented the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Kovalchuk’s new, restructured contract cost the Devils some salary cap wiggle-room, and the league fined the organization an additional $3 million (not against the cap).

When two injuries and one suspension reduced the Devils’ active roster to only 15 players on Oct. 11, the resulting lack of cap space forced them to play three men short against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their roster as of Monday listed four true rookies, which probably wouldn’t be the case if New Jersey had enough cap space to afford more experienced players.

It’s not fair – or accurate – to assume the Kings avoided the same fate by not signing Kovalchuk.

General manager Dean Lombardi had more money to play with this summer than Devils counterpart Lou Lamoriello, and the Kings wouldn’t be similarly pressed against the cap if Kovalchuk had accepted Lombardi’s 15-year, $80 million offer. The star left wing could have slid in with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown on the team’s top line – a sure upgrade over a rotating cast of Ryan Smyth, Andrei Loktionov and Brad Richardson.

But fate is fickle. Looking at the standings, the Kings can't complain about theirs.

Notes

 

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