Montreal Canadiens: Grading All of Marc Bergevin’s Trade Deadline Deals
Ilya Kovalchuk
Bergevin got Scandella for a fourth and then flipped him for a second, but he improved the Habs draft pool even better by giving Ilya Kovalchuk a temporary home. The Russian winger had his contract terminated by the Los Angeles Kings and was made a free agent in December.
After sitting on the sidelines for about two weeks, the Canadiens signed him to a two-way, one-year (though it was really half a year) contract for $700,000. He played well for the Canadiens and scored some big goals, especially an overtime game winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bergevin sent Kovalchuk to the Washington Capitals and picked up an extra third round pick in the upcoming draft. So, he took a free agent off the scrap heap whose career looked over and turned him into a valuable asset that got the Habs a third round pick.
I would have thought going into the deadline that the Habs could have traded Kovalchuk for a second round pick. General managers would surely be hesitant to give up too much for Kovalchuk because they decided not to offer him a million bucks to sign with them a few weeks ago. Trading for him would be admitting they made a mistake not signing him in the first place.
Still, Bergevin did well to get a third round pick the night before trade deadline frenzy and add yet another pick to his large stable of draft selections for June.