New Stars Owner to Sign Kovalchuk?

As recently as Thursday, a source close to the sale of the Stars has said that potential new owner Bill Gallacher is interested in pursuing Ilya Kovalchuk if he can become the official new owner of the Stars fast enough.  He is reportedly willing to offer Kovalchuk a 12-year, $90 million dollar offer if the left-winger remains unsigned for much longer.

Why is he so interested in bringing Kovalchuk to Dallas?  With the recent departures or Mike Modano and Marty Turco, the roster for the Dallas Stars is pretty bare. The only highlight of last season has been the unexpected play of rookie Jamie Benn, who had 22 goals and 19 assists. Beyond that, there the days ahead seem pretty dark for the Stars at this point.

Although Dallas’ main need at this point is an improvement on defense, all of the big name free agents in that department have been signed. 

The hope behind signing Kovalchuk is to improve the offense so much, that a weak defense will not play as big a role as it has the last two seasons. It is also well known that the Stars have had a self imposed spending cap set around $45 million.  When new ownership is in place, this limit can immediately be removed, making plenty of room for Kovalchuk’s contract, as well as being able to re-sign restricted free agent James Neal.

The real question that remains now is if Gallacher can be approved fast enough to get the deal done. The Devils are closely working with Kovalchuk to try and get him signed to a league approved contract, but progress is moving slowly.  In the mean time, the source says that Gallacher is currently leading the bid on the Stars, which is near the $275 million mark.

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