When Lou Lamoriello made the move to bring in Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils organization it was thought that he may represent the final piece to the Devils' Stanley Cup aspirations.
Thwarted in the first round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, Lou’s gamble didn’t pay off, costing him defenseman Johnny Oduya, rookie forward Niclas Bergfors, prospect Patrice Cormier and New Jersey’s 2010 first round draft pick.
At the time of the deal the gamble was seen as a high-risk/high reward type of deal. That said, let’s face it, Lou Lamoriello rarely makes a bad move—but this time, given what the Devils have given up and the trouble the team looks to be in for the foreseeable future, it’s pretty safe to say that Lou came out on the short end of the deal this time no matter how you slice it.
With the Devils giving up so much for Kovalchuk, it was all but a certainty that Lou would make a bold move for the talented sniper in the summer, which Lou did to the tune of a 17-year, $102 million contract that was later rejected by the NHL on the grounds that the deal circumvented the collective bargaining ...
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Article written by Mark Ritter
Lou Lamoriello’s Gamble Not Paying Dividends for New Jersey Devils
October 18th, 2010 by Mark Ritter Leave a reply »
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