Kovalev To Penguins, Sopel To Canadiens

Added on Feb 24, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Alex Kovalev To Penguins

When Ray Shero said he wasn’t done making changes with the Penguins he wasn’t kidding. Today the Penguins added Alex Kovalev from the Ottawa Senators for a 2011 conditional draft pick. Earlier in the week the Penguins add James Neal to the forwards, and many thought this was due to Crosby still being out of the line up.

Kovalev is remaining positive about going back to the Penguins. He said “I’m definitely pretty excited because I’ve been there before and had some good years. It’s too bad that I couldn’t prove myself as a good player in Ottawa, but I still had a great time here being surrounded by a good organization and a great group of guys on the team. I just feel bad that, like I said, we couldn’t do a better job. But at the same time, I’m excited to go to Pittsburgh and play in the playoffs again.”

He also said he felt that this was a brand new opportunity to become a better player. He concluded “That’s where I had the opportunity really to explore my talent and show what I’m capable of and really become the player that I want to be,” Kovalev said. “So that’s one the things I’m excited about, going to Pittsburgh I have the opportunity to be the same player and help the team succeed.”

Sherro said they need to add scorers to the Penguins, and was clear about his intentions. He said Kovalev is a guy, with our team where it is right now with the injuries we’ve talked about we need to add some skill to our lineup. For the cost in terms of assets we thought it was worth the risk. We’re hoping he’ll get back to playing some of his better hockey here. We’re hoping in the short-term here he’ll be energized to play here and play for Dan (Head coach Dan Basylma)and certainly for this city. When I talked to him this afternoon, he was very, very excited about coming back to Pittsburgh.”

Brent Sopel To Canadiens

Atlanta Thrashers General Manager Rick Dudley announced that they traded the 34-year-old defenseman Brent Sopel to the Montreal Canadiens. Dudley was also very clear on his intentions. He said “If we’re doing things for today, it has to be with an eye for the future.” In the trade,Brent Sopel goes to Montreal on Thursday with forward Nigel Dawes, who was in the minors, for 22-year-old center Ben Maxwell, also in the minors this season, and a fourth-round pick.

Last week the Thrashers acquired the 26 year old Mark Suart, and according to Dudley that made Sopel expendable. Dudley said “Yes, when Stuart was acquired it made it someone was going to be expendable and Brent turned out to be the guy.”

The other big question is surrounding Andrew Ladd. Dudley talked as re-signing his captain was one of his main priorities. When asked today he said “We had what you’d have to call substantial talks. I can’t say it will happen today or tomorrow or the day after that. They want to get it done and we do and that’s usually a precursor for doing things.”