Alex Kovalev Ottawa Bound

The Ottawa Senators have now signed Alex Kovalev to a 2 year contract for a reported $5mil per year. This is an interesting signing to say the least. Kovalev is one of the most talented players in the NHL and fits the bill for Ottawa who has been looking for a to 6 forward to add to the lineup so that solves one issue. Where we may have a bit of an issue is the knock on Alex that he doesn’t always show every night. That being said it has the potential to bring to town another ready made whipping boy for post game crybaby callers. Heavens forbid that he ends up on Spezza’s line - talk about a lightning rod for controversy is everything doesn’t go perfect every game.

Outside of the actual hockey issue is the fact that this signing puts Ottawa well over the salary cap for next season and they are going to have to drop a significant amount of money to make this work. Does this meant that a Heatley deal is close? Are there more deals in the works involving say a Jason Smith, Chris Kelly maybe even a Mike Fisher? Makes it look like there are going to be a lot of young players playing next season just for the fact that they have a low cap hit. This is going to make the team look a lot different entering camp and depending on what deals can be made a very young 3rd and 4th line and back end to the defence.

More on this when more details become available for sure