I don't think too highly of Jersey, so I'm not surprised they are out. But I am surprised that the Flyers have stepped up. Guess their win over the Rangers gave them some extra momentum that was not factored in.
I really thought that adding Kovalchuk gave them a great shot at making the conference final. I really don't like Jersey, and they have Boston's number, so I'm pretty happy that they're out. Now if only Ottawa could upset Pitt, and Boston could close against Buffalo, my team would have a decent matchup next round. Yeah, I'm not getting my hopes up there.
You're right though, I too was surprised that Philly stepped it up the way they have. I definitely thought that they were a contender - even when they were struggling in the first half - but after the injuries to the GK's I thought they would definitely have problems on the back end in these playoffs; Boucher has played well. However, now they're without Gagne and Carter for a few weeks; I really can't see them beating Washington, should the Caps progress.
I wonder where Ilya Kovalchuk will end up on July 1st.
LA might get rid of Frolov, and Ilya would fit in well there with Kopitard. The Ducks might have some cap space freeing up. And could Thomas be dumped so that Ilya ends up in... Boston? :sick: Rollie will say they need wingers, which they do, so...
I don't know, buddy. I think that moving Thomas would be wise if possible, but we'll see how that works out. Pretty fat deal, at 5M for the next 3 years. Either way, we're paying Tuukka 1M next year, and 1.5M the year after that, which makes Thomas' number palatable. 6M isn't a bad number to have that kind of security/depth in goal. Most important position on the team.
As for Kovalchuk to the Bruins, he was definitely the dream at one point in time. Then he gave me the stink eye; I've since gone off him.
Seriously though, if he wants 9-10M per season (for say 10 years), it just won't work. That's a huge, cap killing number that just won't work with this team. Especially when you factor in paying the #2 pick a competitive salary in a few years. Kovalchuk has everything that this team needs - the speed, the release, the RH shot on the PP - we need those goals. Badly. I just can't see a way of making it work though - unless we can jettison Ryder/Thomas/Wideman and their combined 13M/year in salary (I would keep Dennis another year, to see if he can rebound). Too many of our key guys still need contracts (Bergy, Seidenberg, Boychuk, Stuart, even Wheeler, etc.) Actually, Frolov might be interesting, depending on the price. We have multiple needs up front obviously (everything but Centers - so many centers in the system).