The New York Knicks may be dominating the headlines in the Big Apple with the courting of LeBron James and other prominent NBA free agents but, make no mistake about it, they are far from standing alone in their quest to make a big splash in this summer’s sports free agent market.
Although little attention is being paid to it for obvious reasons, NHL free agency is also in full swing and a once-proud franchise, with plenty of money to burn, appears to be prepared to make a financial commitment that could drastically alter its fortunes for several years to come.
According to NYDailyNews.com, New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow has held discussions with the agent for Ilya Kovalchuk, a perennial 40-goal scorer and the league’s top unrestricted free agent.
Reports indicate that Snow and Islanders owner Charles Wang are preparing a lucrative, long-term offer for the 27-year-old Russian left winger that could be high as $100 million over 10 years.
After seven seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers, in which he averaged 42 goals per season, Kovalchuk was traded to the New Jersey Devils last season, where he had 10 goals and 17 assists in 27 games and led New Jersey in scoring during the playoffs, but was never quite the dynamic presence he was expected to be on a team that was heavily favored to win the Stanley Cup.
Instead, the Devils, who finished second in the Eastern Conference, were unceremoniously ousted in the first round by the 7th seeded Philadelphia Flyers and, thus far, Kovalchuk has spurned their efforts to resign him as he tests the free agent waters.
Meanwhile, the Islanders, whose investments in huge contracts doled to players like Alexei Yashin and Rick DiPietro have resulted in negative returns, seem to be making a strong push to capitalize on the availability of a player of Kovalchuk’s ilk that will certainly improve the NHL’s 20th ranked offense and help end New York’s three-year playoff drought.
But it remains to be seen whether complete confidence can be placed in the veracity of the aforementioned reports because, in this summer of free agency, where there’s smoke one can usually expect not to find fire.
Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special video presentation featuring Ilya Kovalchuk.
NY Islanders May Start Bidding for Ilya Kovalchuk at $100 million
