A great example of Kovalev's defensive coverage comes around 0:45 of this video. Watch him take over 6 seconds to arrive at the play.
One of the cool things about the team this year is how little we talk about keeping our stars happy, or trying to get a player going, or any player putting himself above the team. The Canucks have no prima donnas in their lineup. It's hard to really note how valuable that is until you wind up with such a player on your team.
Fortunately, Alex Kovalev has jumped in to remind Canucks fans just what they're missing.
Senators Head Coach Cory Clouston has a lot in common with Alain Vigneault in that he believes in accountability and team play. No one person is above the team. When Dany Heatley wasn't producing on the power play, Clouston moved him to the second unit. Heatley then demanded a trade. But not to Edmonton.
Clouston treats ice time, not as an entitlement based on salary, but as his carrot and stick. This thinking is great for a team but horrible for anyone who feels entitled to quality offensive minutes. Unfortunately, it seems when Bryan Murray signed Alex Kovalev as a replacement for Heatley, he wasn't getting back Heatley's offense, but Heatley's temperament.
Kovalev was paid $5 million last season to score less than 50 points, and this season is off to a worse start. Management started him off on the top line with Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson -- what should be a huge scoring opportunity -- but he failed to produce and has since been shuffled all around the lineup at various points of time. The only real constant was that Kovalev was always getting power play time. Still, he scored only four power play goals last season. Bryan Murray signed fellow Russian Sergei Gonchar, a move many speculated was intended to help Kovalev. It's doubtful that Murray would sign a player to a 3 year, $16.5 million deal just to make Kovalev happy, but the move was nonetheless expected to help him wake up.
Of course, it didn't, and now Kovalev is on pace for fewer than 40 points this season. So Cory Clouston did what he had to -- he demoted Kovalev to the fourth line. Kovalev hasn't had a point in six games. More importantly, he doesn't seem to care on the ice. It's like he signed with the Senators because it meant he could have steady access to a rink for his recreational skates. He shows an apparent lack of interest in the game. If Clouston didn't demote Kovalev, the team would know their coach's whole approach to giving ice time based on the results on the ice is complete poppycock.
How did Kovalev respond to this?
