Coming, going Pens get Kovalev, lose Orpik to injury
PITTSBURGH — Forward Alex Kovalev is returning to the Penguins on a day the team couldn’t escape losing yet another regular to an ever-growing injured list.
The Penguins acquired Kovalev in exchange for a conditional draft pick with the Ottawa Senators Thursday. The trade is Pittsburgh’s second in four days as the team attempts to shore up a banged-up roster that is currently minus 12 regulars.
The trade for Kovalev was announced shortly after coach Dan Bylsma revealed that defenseman Brooks Orpik will miss between four and six weeks with a broken finger on his right hand. Orpik was hurt when he was struck by Patrick Marleau’s shot late in the first period of a 3-2 overtime loss to San Jose a day earlier.
On the bright side, the Penguins did add a veteran forward in Kovalev, who’s capable of stepping in immediately to provide a sputtering offense some punch. Keep in mind, this team is already missing captain Sidney Crosby, who’s out indefinitely with a concussion, and Evgeni Malkin, who sustained a season-ending knee injury earlier this month.
The trade was completed on the day of Kovalev’s 38th birthday. He’s expected to join the Penguins in time for their game at Carolina tonight.
Kovalev is an 18-year NHL veteran, who played for the Penguins from 1998 through the 2002-03, a stretch during which he enjoyed some of his best seasons before being traded to the New York Rangers. He was a two-time All-Star selection during his time in Pittsburgh, and had a career-best 95 points (44 goals, 51 assists) in 2000-01. Overall, he has 426 goals and 591 assists for 1,017 points in 1,282 career games.
Kovalev had 14 goals and 13 assists in 54 games in his second season with the Senators. He became expendable in Ottawa on a team that’s all but mathematically out of playoff contention, sitting last in the Eastern Conference.
Before making the trade, Shero consulted with Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, who was a teammate of Kovalev’s in Pittsburgh. Lemieux, general manager Ray Shero said, “went to bat” for Kovalev, while also approving the deal in which the Penguins pick up what’s left of the $5 million contract the player is scheduled to make this season.
In exchange, the Penguins gave up a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft. It will turn into a sixth-round pick if Pittsburgh reaches the second round of the playoffs and Kovalev appears in at least 50 percent of the first-round games.
Orpik’s injury is the latest key loss for a team that can’t afford too many more. Orpik is one of the team’s top four blue-liners and plays on the top penalty-killing unit.
