Another big trade has been completed and the New Jersey Devils have another captain among their ranks. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello completed a trade to bring in All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk from Atlanta. The 26-year-old has scored 31 goals in 49 games this season. Since debuting in 2001, Kovalchuk has netted 328 goals and 615 points in 594 games, so there’s certainly no surprise that he was as sought after as he was, and just when it seemed like the Kings would win the Kovalchuk Sweepstakes, the Devils swooped in and landed the Russian-born superstar.

Don’t say the Thrashers didn’t try to keep Kovalchuk in Atlanta. They offered multiple long-term deals, including $101 million over 12 years, and $70 million over 7 years, which would have made him the highest-paid player in the NHL, based on average annual salary. Reportedly, Kovalchuk wanted a 10-12 year deal that would have paid him the maximum 20 percent of the salary cap. None of the offers that Atlanta GM Don Waddell put on the table seemed to be good enough for Kovalchuk’s camp.

Is there anything worse than a money-hungry player? Kovalchuk is a fantastic hockey player and excellent goal scorer, but is not the best player in the league, and should not be paid like he is. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Alex Ovechkin are much better, and while marginally younger, they’ve been able to carry their teams in recent years. The Thrashers are currently in 11th place in the Eastern Conference. Kovalchuk’s new team is in second, and maybe a pairing with Zack Parise will raise his game, and maybe make him worth a max-dollar, long-term contract.

Kovalchuk didn’t find a deal he was happy with in Atlanta, so the Thrashers did the only thing they could do. They put him on a plane. He may look for a contract extension with the Devils, or he may just have been brought in as a rental player for an extra push through the playoffs. Either way, Kovalchuk will likely make his Devils debut against the Leafs on Friday night. We’ll have to watch and see if he can turn up the heat on a team that’s playoff-bound.