If you want to get analysis of this trade from a Senators point of view, head on over to Steve Warne’s blog as “the Church of Alfie” will no-doubt have some good thoughts on his departure and probably a couple of reflections on his short but controversial time here in the Nation’s Capital.
To be honest, I would rather look at this from Pittsburgh’s perspective anyways because it’s pretty cut and dry for Ottawa. Kovalev stayed true to form, showed up for 20-25% of the games he played for the Sens and frustrated the hell out of all Sens fans that knew what they were getting, but hoped for more.
This is an interesting move from Pittsburgh’s point of view. They have a ton of problems at the forward spot because of the loss of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but are they so desperately thin that they would look to L’Artiste to try and boost their offensive production?
If you look inside the numbers, you’ll find that the Penguins are absolutely in need of more production. If the Penguins don’t get back Sidney Crosby this season, then god help them. They aren’t going anywhere with the rag-tag bunch that they have skating right now. If they can add Kovalev for virtually nothing, then it’s worth the minimal risk.
Crosby continues to lead the team in points with 66 after only 41 games. Meanwhile, Kris Letang is a distant second with 45 points in 62 games as a defenseman and Evgeni Malkin remains in third with 37 points despite being done for the year thanks to major ligament damage to one of his knees.
The highest-scoring forward that is healthy as of right now is Tyler Kennedy and he’s fifth on the team in points with 31 points in 61 games. Chris Kunitz is the final guy in the Top 5 of team scoring, but he’s hurt as well. Fortunately for Penguins fans, the winger should be able to return shortly.
Penguins GM Ray Shero is in a really tough spot here because he has a team that has the second-most points in the Eastern Conference, so they should be considered a Stanley Cup contender, but without his top two stars, they’re nothing but a middle of the road team.
It also has to be pointed out that the Penguins have had a long stretch of successful seasons. With how cyclical a team’s success has become because of the salary cap, there’s must be a concern of how many times the Penguins will be in this position before the bottom falls out and they have to rebuild again.
All Pens fans can hope for now is a return by Sid the Kid because despite the moves they’ve made this week, they’re a shell of themselves without the most dynamic player in the game. Let the parties begin in Ottawa. The most interesting man in the world is now going to have to learn how to fly his helicopter around the Poconos.