The Washington Capitals have acquired forward Ilya Kovalchuk from the Montreal Canadiens for a 2020 third-round pick. Montreal has agreed to retain 50 percent of Kovalchuk’s salary and cap hit.

After being left for dead in Los Angeles, Kovalchuk's career has been revived in Montreal. His 13 points (6g-7a) in 22 games as a Hab is the third-highest total on the team during his stint. He had quickly become a fan favorite with the spark he had provided for the Montreal offense, as expectations had been fairly low from his signing a $700,000 contract for the rest of the season. Scoring three of the six goals as game-winners certainly endeared him to Canadiens fans as well. There are even rumblings that Kovalchuk could return to Montreal as a free agent this summer as well.

Where Kovy fits in Washington remains to be seen. In Montreal, he had averaged nearly 19 minutes per game on a team that had been injury-ravaged when he had arrived. However, he'll be in tougher to receive opportunities on one of the highest-scoring offenses in the league, and an established one at that.

The Capitals seem mostly set on the first-unit power play, so Kovy might be used to help fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov solidify the second unit. Even-strength-wise, it's possible he bumps T.J. Oshie down to the third line. A more likely scenario, however, is that he bumps Richard Panik down the lineup and starts on the third line with Lars Eller and Carl Hagelin. The Capitals reportedly weren't happy with their bottom 6, so this is a move made to help improve it.

Tomas Tatar and Nick Suzuki were the two forwards with higher point totals than Kovalchuk's during the latter's time in Montreal. Both had spent some minutes with Kovalchuk, and someone like Suzuki might be initially thought to be hurt by the trade. However, Kovalchuk had recently snapped a six-game point drought during which Suzuki and Tatar were still contributing, so Kovalchuk's departure shouldn't affect them greatly. Having said that, Kovalchuk deserves a great deal of credit for the rookie Suzuki's strong second half.

Paul Byron has recorded three points in three games since returning from injury, so he could be naturally helped by the deal. Byron has been used very little on the power play this season, but it's possible that he could move up to the second unit.

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Players this helps, in order:

Eller

Hagelin

Kuznetsov

Byron

Cole Caufield (creates room should Caufield sign following NCAA season)

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Players this hurts, in order:

Panik

Oshie

Kovalchuk

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