The Canadiens Have Been Trying to Trade Kovalev for 2 Weeks

According to an article from La Presse written by Richard Labbé, the Montreal Canadiens have been shopping Kovalev for at least two weeks now. Kovalev became a problem in Habs dressing room. Labbé claims that three agents have confirmed to La Presse that Bob Gainey have been contacting many teams around the league to try to trade him. The Habs have difficulty to trade Kovalev because of his unrestricted free agent status next year and also because of his current $4.5million contract. The teams that would be interested in him would need have at least $1.4 million in cap space. In addition to all of this, Bob Gainey has said yesterday in a press conference, that he is open to anything and that everything is possible. He doesn't dismiss that Kovalev could be traded or that he could rejoin the team soon. Another agent says that Bob Gainey's decision to send Kovalev home wasn't a sudden decision, that it have been thought of for a few weeks ago and its serious. The chances to trade Kovalev have considerably lowered by sending him home. It's like telling the rest of the league that we have a big problem here. Labbé continues to state that Kovalev won't have much value on the market and the only teams that would be interested in him would be western teams that are fighting for a spot for the playoffs such as the Blues or the Coyotes.

Here is a link to the full article :
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/hockey/200902/17/01-828404-le-ch-tente-dechanger-kovalev-depuis-deux-semaines.php