Will The Real Ilya Kovalchuk Please Stand Up?

Ilya Kovalchuk, known as one of the elite snipers in the NHL, was consistently ripped on over the past few months for his loaded contract, and his poor play over the first month or so of the NHL season.

Two days after he botched his shootout attempt that led to New Jersey’s 12th loss of the season, Kovalchuk responded by ripping a fantastic shot in OT to seal a win against another one of the league’s current bottom-feeders, the Edmonton Oilers.

So what’s the deal with Ilya Kovalchuk? Does he deserve all the flak he’s getting, and how will he perform the rest of the season?

First of all, let’s not forget that Kovalchuk is a perennial 40-goal scorer. He has strung together six consecutive 40-goal seasons, the longest of any current player. He’s good on the power play, and it helps that he’s got a rocket of a shot.

Before landing Kovy, the Devils had a 40-goal scorer and good two-way player in Zach Parise, but many felt he was having a down year (evidenced by his statistics). It never hurts to have an abundance of goals, so the Devils went after Kovalchuk, and, albeit after a slow start, he brought fire to the offense with 27 points in 27 games and a plus-nine rating.

People started to see Kovalchuk as less of a defensive liability, and the Russian sniper became a lot more physical. The second-seeded New Jersey flamed out in the first round and Kovalchuk led his team in scoring with two goals and six points in five games.

After the Devils traded a first-rounder, a solid prospect, a top four defenseman and a budding forward for the talented Kovalchuk, Devils fans expected him to break loose for something like 80 goals in a season.

Sure, he’s talented, but cut the man some slack!

He’s still scoring goals, and the entire Devils team has been faltering this year;it is completely unfair to place all the blame on Kovalchuk. The Devils are 2-2 when Kovalchuk scores, showing they can’t rely on him entirely to win games.

But when the rest of the team starts scoring and stops watching the Kovalchuk show, we get games like their 5-3 road win over the Chicago Blackhawks, and their 3-0 road shutout of the Montreal Canadiens.

So is Kovalchuk a little overpriced? It’s too early to tell.

The Devils need a fully healthy roster and a Martin Brodeur whose save percentage is better than .903 and GAA better than 2.71. Kovalchuk will pick up the scoring, and finish this year with 42 goals and 82 points. He’s still a threat to score whenever he touches the puck, and to me, that’s worth a $6.67 million cap hit.