Charlie Coyle was far from the only one at fault on Tuesday night, but the B’s pivot-turned-winger did draw the most ire from his coach for his unwillingness to fire in a shot from a Grade-A area of the ice.
A disastrous collapse against the Florida Panthers featured plenty of lowlights, especially in terms of defensive coverage and lackluster execution on the penalty kill. But none of Boston’s shortcomings were as frustrating as the club’s propensity to squeeze its sticks when a quality scoring chance presented itself.
Coyle’s failure to land a shot against Sam Montembeault from the slot in the closing minutes of the third was one of many instances in which Boston failed to step on Florida’s throat at TD Garden, and the B’s paid in short order with a loser point in the shootout.
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“That was the obvious one,” Bruce Cassidy said. “You’d like to see him go for the dagger there. He’s point-blank. Listen, we’ve had this discussion with Charlie. This isn’t the first time it’s been brought up to be selfish, shoot the puck more, so it will be brought up again, but it’s done now. It’s his call on the ice; he’s been in the league a long time, so we’ll just encourage him to be more of a goal scorer there.”
With injuries decimating Boston’s depth on the wing, Coyle has been bumped up from his preferred spot at third line center to the wing — giving Boston’s second line plenty of playmaking options in Coyle, David Krejci and Danton Heinen, but not much in terms of established finishers.
Well, how’s about a guy outside the organization with 436 goals on his resume?
It might not be with the Bruins, but one thing is for certain — Ilya Kovalchuk’s time with the Los Angeles Kings appears to be over.
A tenure in California that has gone downhill ever since the winger signed a three-year, $18.75-million contract back in July 2018 hit its breaking point earlier this week, with Elliotte Friedman reporting that the Kings will keep the 36-year-old forward out of the lineup for the foreseeable future — most likely until an agreement is struck to ship him out of town.
The writing was on the wall for Kovalchuk, who has tallied three goals and nine total points through 17 games before getting demoted down to fourth-line duty prior to his benching.
He may not be the franchise forward that posted five 40-plus goal seasons during his first stint in the NHL with the Thrashers and Devils, but one would think that a player of Kovalchuk’s reputation should still draw suitors if he’s either put on the trading block or introduced to the free-agency pool.
After coming up short in trying to woo the Russian sniper to Boston back in 2018, could the Bruins find themselves back in the running for Kovalchuk — especially given the club’s need for scoring on the wing?
It’s a tempting scenario for the B’s, no doubt. But one that Boston should ultimately steer clear of, for multiple reasons.
Before we even delve into the on-ice product with Kovalchuk, the primary hurdle when it comes to Kovalchuk joining the Bruins has to do with Boston’s cap space — or lack thereof, rather.
Already with barely any room to work with after re-upping the likes of Charlie McAvoy, Danton Heinen and Brandon Carlo this summer, the Bruins would not be able to bring in Kovalchuk via trade without the Kings eating a chunk of money — as Kovalchuk is penciled in for a $6.25 million cap hit this year and next.
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While Boston has some steps it can take to give itself some cap room (trading Kevan Miller or John Moore, package David Backes’ contract in a deal with prospects or picks), freeing up over $6 million would prove to be far too costly and would involve removing key cogs from the lineup.
However, if the Kings do wait until Dec. 15, in which all of Kovalchuk’s bonus money will be paid out, then a team that trades for him will after that date would only be on the hook for a piece of his $700,000 base salary.
That could make things more appealing for the Bruins, while — as unlikely as it seems — Kovalchuk could walk away from his L.A. contract (and the millions of dollars he’s set to make next year) in order to terminate the contract and hit free agency.
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But even if Boston had the means, cap wise, to bring aboard Kovalchuk, would it worth it for the Bruins?
While Kovalchuk’s skills have eroded over the years, that heavy, lethal shot he possesses still does offer plenty of value, especially if he’s paired up with a playmaking pivot like Krejci.
But since arriving in California, Kovalchuk hasn’t exactly lived up to the billing as an effective volume shooter.
With an average shot distance that clocks in below the league average at 34.8 feet, Kovalchuk may not be exactly what the Bruins are looking for when it comes to wingers that can pepper the net and put themselves in Grade-A areas of the ice.
Even in situations when a player with skills like Kovalchuk should thrive — such as on the power play — the production simply hasn’t been there for Kovalchuk in L.A., as he’s only potted five goals on the man advantage through 81 games with the Kings.
Add in an individual 5v5 shots per 60 minutes rate of 6.1 for Kovalchuk that would actually rank 12th on the Bruins (behind the likes of Coyle, Karson Kuhlman and others) and a scoring chances per 60 min. rate of 5.81 that would place him 10th on the B’s roster, and it seems as though Kovalchuk’s days of a dependable scorer have passed him by.
Other more appealing options via trade could and should yield more appealing returns for the Bruins. Or, as Cassidy pointed out, the likes of Coyle, McAvoy and others can give this team a lift on offense, so long as they start getting selfish.
Add in the cap-crunch headaches, the poor defensive play and more — and you have a scenario that the Bruins should avoid entirely with Kovalchuk, no matter how cheap the price tag eventually gets for the former franchise winger.
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, and Sean Tierney.