NHL Rumors August 14: Devils, Kings Battle for Ilya Kovalchuk... Again

Ilya Kovalchuk continues to negotiate with the New Jersey Devils. The Los Angeles Kings are also trying to get him, as a result neither are very seriously pursuing Tomas Kaberle. If I was the Kings, I would focus on Kaberle as Kovalchuk has already shown he plans on going to New Jersey.

The Los Angeles Kings are the front-runners for Willie Mitchell, in fact sources say this could get done by Monday. I would not be shocked if they did this as they must have realized by now the Kovalchuk saga will drag out for a while.

Since they have a bit of cap space and don't expect to spend much on Mitchell they can afford to sign him and stay in the Kovalchuk sweepstakes. As for Kaberle, his NTC kicks back in on Monday so if they don't have him by Monday they may as well get Mitchell. 

Expect the Tomas Kaberle trade to go right down to the last minute before midnight tomorrow. Lots of teams interested but only one trade makes sense and that seems to be a package of prospects and draft picks.

Burke has not lowered his price to deal Kaberle, he is just stating he is open minded to getting young players, prospects and picks. They might actually be worth more than the roster players he wants which is what will be needed for him to make a trade like this as he has constantly stated he wants a top six power forward.

With Ilya Kovalchuk still on the market the Los Angeles Kings, and New Jersey Devils are a bit distracted. As a result they are not pursuing Kaberle as aggressively. Burke has stated it affects the bidding for Kaberle but should not be fatal.

Marc Savard is not really a tradeable commodity anymore because the league is investigating his contract. Imagine trading for him, only to find out his contract is void! That would just be awful.

So if a Kaberle deal is made it will be on Saturday night at the earliest. Expect me to break the trade tomorrow, or then again maybe not.