37 from distance.#NHLBruins<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/VUlhByfW28<\/a><\/p>\n
BOSTON \u2013 What is with all the handwringing over Ilya Kovachuk? <\/p>\n
Why wouldn\u2019t the Bruins want to see what a player with championship pedigree at a bargain basement price can do for them? <\/p>\n
There are many other teams in the NHL in much worse shape than the Bruins. <\/p>\n
They are the second-best team in the Eastern Conference standings. They have lots of depth up the middle at the center position and they have the hottest sniper in the game in David Pastrnak. <\/p>\n
They have a playoff-tested goalie in Tuukka Rask, who\u2019s been the starting goalie on a pair of Bruins teams that have come thisclose to winning a Stanley Cup. His backup, Jaroslav Halak is the ideal No. 2 netminder, quietly doing a very solid job and \u2013 as Bruce Cassidy has said on several occasions \u2013 always giving the Bruins someone they never have to worry about when giving Rask the night or several nights off. <\/p>\n
The Bruins have a remarkably deep, versatile and young corps of defensemen. The coaching staff, led by Cassidy, is top rank. <\/p>\n
But the Stanley Cup is not awarded to the most talented. It\u2019s awarded to the most determined team that has the most answers and options come May and June. The Bruins ran out of options and answers in Game 7 against St. Louis. To finish the job this time, they need more scoring options to answer the teams who successfully shut down the Bruins top lines the way the Blues did in Games 2, 5 and 7 on Garden ice. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s why taking a chance on Ilya Kovalchuk makes sense. He is a 36-year-old veteran wing who could step in, ala Jarome Iginla or Mark Recchi and give the Bruins a burst. He won\u2019t solve all of the Bruins issues with depth scoring but he certainly could be a start. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was great, he was perfect, he was a real pro,\u201d Kings general manager Rob Blake said Tuesday before his Kings came from behind to beat the Bruins, 4-3 in overtime at TD Garden. \u201cHe showed up every day and did his job, he was very good about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the 6-foot-3, 222-pound left wing wasn\u2019t very good at this season was scoring, netting just three goals and six assists in 17 games before being benched. The star left wing took time off at the age of 29 after the 2012-13 season and winning a KHL title in Russia. He came back to the NHL after signing with the Kings before the 2018-19 season. But he scored just 19 goals and 18 assists in 81 games in a season-plus back in the NHL. The detractors point to the fact that he essentially did nothing in his time with the Kings. He\u2019s out of gas. Give younger players the chance to prove something. <\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t about bringing in star power, it\u2019s about bringing in another scoring option on a team that could desperately use it, especially on the power play. The shot is still there but he is someone who clearly could use a great supporting cast that the Bruins can provide. <\/p>\n
\n37 from distance.#NHLBruins<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/VUlhByfW28<\/a><\/p>\n
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