SAN JOSE — Players who get traded from a contender to a rebuilding team often find themselves with a new, better opportunity, but Nikolai Kovalenko may have hit the jackpot.
Kovalenko showed plenty of promise in his rookie NHL season, moving around the lineup to fill in where needed for an injury-ravaged club. But the Colorado Avalanche wanted a new No. 1 goalie, and he became part of the cost for that acquisition.
Off to San Jose he went, and Kovalenko has suddenly found himself playing next to Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 pick/franchise centerpiece, on the Sharks’ top line.
“It’s really just an incredible experience,” Kovalenko said. “I told (Celebrini), sorry I don’t have big time on ice sometimes in Colorado. This feels like same conditions in KHL because I played like 17-20 minutes in KHL. When you play every time, every game it starts to feel better and better. I told him like, ‘Sorry, just give me a couple games.’”
Kovalenko may have felt like he needed a couple of games to get up to speed playing next to a phenom, but the results say otherwise. The 25-year-old forward had five points in four games with the Sharks entering Thursday night’s game at SAP Center.
He was playing a lot for the Avalanche earlier this season, but as the forward corps got healthier Kovalenko’s role was diminished. He played at least 10:42 in each of his first 18 games, but then fewer than 10 in six of his final 11 contests with the club.
After playing 9:23 in his first game with the Sharks, Kovalenko has logged more than 13 minutes in three straight.
“I think his competitive nature has come out,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He hunts pucks. He’s on pucks. What’s impressed me the most is his wall play. I think he really fights the panic on the wall and he executes.
“He’s one of the best guys we have on the wall, really. He fights that panic, because a lot of times when you get a puck on the wall, you know you’re going to hit. You know you’re going to get pinched down by a defenseman. He’s calm. He’s got poise with it. Nine times out of 10, he makes the right play and he executes the play.”
Kovalenko was not a typical rookie when he arrived late last season. He’d played six years in the KHL, including top usage as one of the best players on his team the past two seasons.
He is a skilled player at heart, but that competitiveness could allow him to play in the NHL for a long time regardless of where he settles in. That wasn’t going to be in the top six for Colorado.
It might not be for San Jose, either, but he’s getting that chance now. The rebuilding Sharks have been collecting players like him — talented, potentially under-utilized or under-appreciated players with their former clubs. They added Fabian Zetterlund from New Jersey and he scored 24 goals for them last year. The Jake Walman trade was one of the best transactions of the summer.
Even Mackenzie Blackwood was a low-cost, low-risk move for them. They were able to play him more, boost his value and flip him for Alexandar Georgiev (who could also be flipped again), Kovalenko, and a second-round pick.
Making this move with Georgiev has already been a positive for Kovalenko.
“It is easier for me, like with flights, coming here, what’s going on with my apartment in Colorado,” Kovalenko said. “I don’t know all the rules, what’s going here. So (Georgiev) just tries to explain it to me what is the step by step.
“It was big shock for me, first time I have a trade in the middle of the season. It’s a great opportunity for me. I can have more opportunity on the power play. I’m just excited for every game and just try to be better.”
Kovalenko could have been a nice depth player for the Avs, but he’ll have the chance to prove he can be more in San Jose. He was traded for a new No. 1 goaltender, just like his father, Andrei, was when he got sent to Montreal in the Patrick Roy deal.
“He’s showing up in the pre-scout, kind of creating the same way he did for us,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I said it when the trade happened, I think it’s a really good opportunity for him to learn and grow with a bunch of players who are kind of in the same category – good offensive skill, young guys learning how to play the right way, to be consistent.
“I’m happy for (Kovalenko). He’s a really good person, really good teammate. He’s got that ability to help a team on the offensive side of it, especially playing down low in the offensive zone. He’s been doing a good job since he’s been there.”
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