San Jose Sharks
Nikolai Kovalenko’s Father on Son’s Unhappiness With Sharks, Agent Talking to KHL Team
Nikolai Kovalenko’s father said his son isn’t happy with the San Jose Sharks and is considering other options.
“Overall, there’s discontent from his side,” Andrei Kovalenko told news site Russia Hockey, translated from Russian by San Jose Hockey Now’s Nikita Sokolov. “Nikolai’s agent is talking to Torpedo.”
Andrei has an interesting perspective: Not only is he Nikolai’s father, but he also met with former Edmonton Oilers teammate and current Sharks GM Mike Grier during a recent visit to North America.
Nikolai will be a restricted free agent this summer, but he used to play for KHL side Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, where he starred for multiple seasons.
What could be part of Kovalenko’s frustration?
Nikolai Kovalenko was a healthy scratch for six-straight games, beginning in late March.
“He’s obviously frustrated, but he’s just kind of confused,” Klim Kostin told SJHN then, translating for his fellow Russian.
Since the scratches, Kovalenko has had some success playing up with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, notching a goal and two assists in five games next to the Sharks’ young cornerstones.
But that doesn’t make up for what the Kovalenkos see as an unfulfilled season, the 25-year-old winger’s first in North America. The San Jose Sharks acquired Kovalenko from the Colorado Avalanche in December in the Mackenzie Blackwood trade.
Andrei elaborated: “It was understandable when Nikolai, in the first half of the season, played on the third line in Colorado, because that club is a championship contender, the competition on the top lines is extremely high. The situation in San Jose, with all respect, is different. It’s obvious there’s personal [bias] from the coach [Ryan Warsofsky] – and there’s no alignment with the [direction] of the management. Watch the Sharks’ games – and you’ll see who deserves what.”
He also noted that Kostin is another talented player who has not been given a lot of ice-time.
Ryan Warsofsky denied allegations earlier this season that he held any bias against Russian players.
Kovalenko has three goals and 12 points in 28 games with San Jose, playing 12:34 a night; he had four goals and eight points in 24 games with Colorado, playing 12:00 a night.
At the end of the day though, Andrei said it would be his son who makes the final decision on whether to return to Russia: “[He] can ask me or the agent for advice, but he makes the decisions.”
He’s flashed some but very inconsistent. Not deserving top line minutes. If he leaves, shrug.
I just realized you have one of the best user names!
Yup. Love it!
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Good work, Felicia!
At the very least, this deserves consideration and some thought; otherwise, with this attitude, ChatGPT’s prediction of the Sharks winning the Cup will be true.
That’s not how it goes lol
I don’t understand this. The door hitting you on the ass comment is definitely how it goes.
Do you think I was going for “Bye, Felicia!” at the end? Felicia is the name of the author of this post.
lol
Oh lol, Bye Felicia would have been way better
Ah jeez, I thought maybe the team would give him another look but I’ve stopped caring now…oh well, see ya, bud
Spoiled. Good riddance. Guess he didn’t pick up enough of his father in child birth. To be fair Andrei sounds like the typical travel team Dad bitchin about his kids ice time.🤣🤣🤣
and as the president of the local Klim Kostin fan club and I vehemently call bullshit to him not getting a enough ice time and chances.
It comes across as very entitled. Avs fan here. Before he came to the Avs. His father & his KHL coach Igor Larionov were doing a lot of gum flapping about how skilled Nikolai is & that he deserves to be a top 6 NHL wing if he comes to North America..blah..blah..blah. I liked his game in his brief time in Colorado. With that said there’s plenty of players with his skill set. And at 25 he is what he is at this point. A potentially solid bottom 6 piece. Who has some offensive upside (maybe a 15 – 20… Read more »
His Dad was a tank who worked his ass off for everything he got in the NHL.
So there wasn’t a lost in translation issue after all. He’s been playing hard as of late but if that is what you think – that the coach has it in for you – you have some serious blinders on.
The players that are consistently executing their roles are getting in the lineup. Look at Gundstrom as an example.
Disagree. Goodrow-Gregor should be healthy scratched, they continue to get minutes. Warsofsky makes questionable decisions
Not worth the drama
Damn I’d be so pissed at my Dad if this happened to me
I would too. Although in this case, Andrei knows how the NHL works, I imagine if he’s saying this stuff publicly, he has his son’s permission.
Yeah I mean he must, right?!
I don’t care what the injury situation is I hope they scratch this POS tomorrow. Entitled punk should have just stayed in Russia where he can be somebody. Thought he’d just cruise over here and get to play however he feels like and have everyone grateful for his presence. He’s not that good.
Go be small time in Russia where anyone gives enough of a shit about you to even have you on a podcast.
This dude fulfills all the Russian stereotypes from the 90s.
Are you referring to Fedorov, Zubov, Makarov, Larionov, Fetisov, Kovelev, Bure, or someone else? I thought the 90’s was kinda the golden ere for Russian superstars in the NHL
There were and are a lot of cool and good Russians. There is also a lot of pushback against them at many levels in North America. And a whole lot more of it back then. The stereotypes in question are not beliefs that I hold myself. But Kovalenko embodies a number of them.
Today there are new/additional layers to it given how people feel about the invasion of Ukraine. Grier even cited that as a possible reason the Sharks were able to pick Chernyshov in the second round.
I think it’s just a one off. Guys like Merkley and Bords think they’re entitled to NHL opportunities too. Could be generational too.
Yup. But even up to now too.
Ya had me 100% until the dumb Russian comment. Some of my all time favorite players are Russian. The all time NHL goal leader is Russian. Sorry man you’re out to lunch with that one.
Yeah, Russians are totally cool and I like lots of them. I don’t know why (well, I do know it’s lack of language skills, I just don’t know why everyone’s are so poor) anyone would take what I said to be a knock against Russians from me. Stereotypes about Russian players exist and have existed for a long time and were quite widely held in the 1990s when people really weren’t used to seeing them play out here and the Cold War hadn’t been over very long. This particular guy happens to demonstrate a number of them. And he can… Read more »
Mogilny is one of the greatest natural goal scorers I’ve ever seen.
I don’t know about 90’s. I would say Kovalenko Jr. seems to have a little bit of the Nail Yakupov in him.
Whether he’s got a legitimate gripe or not, get this kid out of the room. He doesn’t fit, and there’s absolutely no reason to have cultural drama at square one of a rebuild. Peace out, Nikolai.
square one? The rebuild excuse is over next season it’s time to atleast expect to win
Hahahaha okay buddy.
Agreed!
Kovalenko is probably right that he deserved more of a look given how bad this roster is, and Warso is probably right that he can point to a bunch of bad plays in games and practice. And clearly there is a language barrier. Just move on from each other. Maybe GMMG can flip him for a mid round pick so it’s not a total loss.
No, he’s not right and he got what he earned.
Has enough talent to play in the NHL, but he hasn’t adapted his game sufficiently to make it work. Soon enough, there will be a resolution. My guess is it comes down to GMMG and Warsofsky telling Kovalenko what he needs to do to become a full-time player and giving him the chance to make the call on whether he wants to go down that path. One thing which has worked against Kovalenko is the lack of practice time. The midseason trade means he never got a camp and it seems like that’s the sort of time he really needs.… Read more »
I totally agree with you Zeke and to an extent other comments. I hope his attitude is not the issue and miscommunication is. The Sharks do not need attitude problems at this stage of the rebuild. I agree he needs more practice time and an offseason to further adjust his game to North American ice and what the Sharks need him to do to become an every game player. But his challenges are not just playing professionally in North America (different league different rules, smaller ice surface, different playing styles and system (it is his second team in his rookie… Read more »
That could all be…but it seems like the message from Kovalenko Sr. is that he just needs to play farther up the lineup. That doesn’t sound like somebody who feels like the problem is on his side at all.
Agreed
I don’t think Warso has a conscious bias against Russians – but he does seem like he fancies himself a player’s coach and tries to build relationships with his young guys. The language barrier may just prevent that, and so he never bonds with them and winds up prioritizing other players that he has. Players that he feels like he can give more effective feedback/coaching to. Just a guess, total shot in the dark. I am far from any kind of NHL coach, scout, or talent analyst of any kind – but Kovy and Kostin getting scratched so often in… Read more »
But you’ve also got Mukhamadullin playing 20+ minutes a night because he’s playing well.
Good point
Does Shak need a translator? I don’t know why I thought his English was better..
I just think Warsofsky isn’t a fan of Russian style offense which is very east-west and finesse. He (and Grier) seem to very much love a super north-south gritty style which I just don’t think meshes super well with how Russian players grow up playing offensively. The thing I don’t get is Kovalenko actually does work pretty hard on the forecheck and battles on the boards well for his size. You’d think Warsofsky would appreciate that in him. It also seems like Warsofsky and Grier want the bottom 6 to be very gritty and defensive where Kovalenko while having solid… Read more »
That’s nHL style offense. Show me a successful team that doesn’t play north south.
Avalanche fan here. The Avs have been very successful for 9 years and won a cup just 3 yrs ago. They have more of a hybrid offense – not strictly a finesse/possession style, but definitely not a traditional north/south game either. MacKinnon and Makar “fell” to them in the draft and rather than force a square peg into a round hole they built a team style of play (and added pieces that fit) around their superstar core. Not saying Sharks should have the same style but they should build concepts around the awesome core talent that they drafted
I can see the possibility of that. But with other Russian players like Muk and Asky, this does not seem to be an issue. Sometimes people just do not mesh.
I hope this is not the case and they can resolve this so he plays for the Sharks next season.
I prefer to hope the team has better players than him that earn ice time next season. This was his best chance at a hand out and he blew it.
I hope they do as well, but one in the hand is better than two in the bush as they say.
He just wasn’t that good.
Can not argue that. I just think that (as a rookie) he needs more time to adjust his playing style and acclimate to the pro game in the NHL. As I have stated in the past couple months, this is his first full season in North America and I think we should give him more time. The big however is attitude. Is it his father driving all of this or is it Kovalenko being the catalyst? Is it miscommunication on one or both sides. I don’t know. If he truly is what most here believe he is, then good riddance.… Read more »
then he should be in the AHL.
Interesting that this story broke with one game yet to play…Cringe
I think Kovalenko has every right to be disgruntled for being scratched constantly over other players who frankly are worse than him. I get Kovalenko is an older rookie at 25 but it’s still an adjustment coming from a league like the KHL to the NHL. Why he wasn’t afforded to grow through his mistakes on a tanking team makes very little sense to me.
Fair enough, but if you talk shit about your boss and then don’t get promoted it’s not a huge mystery as to why.
I mean he was already getting scratched pretty consistently before that Russian podcast appearance during the 4-Nations break.
You have to show progress and coachability. Seems like he’s had trouble exhibiting those traits when he’s been healthy.
Every player who ever played for Daryl Sutter said without question that you knew exactly where you stood and exactly why you stood there and he told you exactly how to get out of the dog house. Kinda reminds me of Alex Korolyuk. One of my favorite sharks btw. Daryl turned him into a feisty little pest and he ended up having some good playoff runs with us.
Loved Korky.
Dude. You have really got to do some basic research before you spout off. Korky left the Sharks BECAUSE he hated Daryl Sutter. He came back when Ron Wilson was coach. That was the only double digit playoff run of Korky’s career – playing for Ron Wilson.
Pretty much all of your takes are based on one factual inaccuracy or another, because you’re too lazy to do any research yourself. And then you run your mouth about work ethic and shit. You have no idea what it even means.
Agreed
How are those Blackwood and Zetterlund trades looking right now? Asking for a friend…
50% of those trade returns haven’t even been determined yet. Let your friend know they can relax.
They didn’t want to sign Blackwood for 5/$25M so might as well get that 2 for him.
And Ostapchuk might be good
Won’t know until after the drafts
Tell your friend to pull their head out of their butt and learn the realities of why those trades were made.😉
You’re getting downvoted but I hear you. Two seconds and two mid-tier prospects feels light in exchange for a good goalie and middle-six winger. Obviously the picks could work out (selections or trade), Ostapchuk could develop, and/or Blackwood could regress. I guess SJS just has to trust their scouts and be patient.
this has been covered ad nauseam. The return on goalies suck and Grier actually did very well under the circumstances.
I disagree with your premise. They didn’t need to trade him at all, they didn’t need to trade him then, they didn’t need to accept that return that included subjecting everyone to Georgiev’s trash performances….
I’m not attacking GMMG but I get OP‘s point that those two trades aren’t decisive wins for SJS at this time.
They are if the Sharks get Matthew Schaefer.
They’re still last even if they kept Zetterlund, right?
Exactly.
then you’re disagreeing with Sheng too. He went over this in the podcast and maybe an article. And yes they did need to trade him because they already had Askarov.
Joseph is right. For those trades it is way too early. But to me the Zetterlund trade is an extension and a part of the Timo Meier trade. The Meier trade happened in February 2023. The Sharks sent Meier and a lot of auxiliary pieces to the Devils adding a fifth round pick (acquired from Colorado). In return the Sharks got Muk, Zetterlund, Okhotyuk, Johnsson, a 2023 first round pick, a 2024 second and a 2024 seventh round pick This trade can now be called complete (unless something is done with the latest assets GMMG acquired as part of this… Read more »
I love this post. I don’t know if I agree with everything but I agree with the basic idea.
It feels like everybody got so attached and in love with two players that really didn’t appear to be in the Sharks long-term plans. Just like we lost some key pieces of Sharks era past, there’s always a need to keep building toward the future.
Really great but didn’t the Sharks get another D-man that they traded away to Seattle or Vancouver? Can’t remember his name. Maybe I have the wrong trade?
I posted in other threads few things about Kovalenko. The most important to note that he’s competing for a top 6 role, not below. And his dad just confirmed that. But if so who he thinks his son is ahead of? Kovalenko is a winger, so he’s competing with Toff, Eky, Smitty and maybe Graf, Lund. Toff and Eky are clearly ahead of him. Smitty, maybe equal, but his upside is so high and he’s so young that Kovi looses to him. As for the others, Kovi got his chances now. Time to seize them. This chime by his dad… Read more »
This is Kovalenko’s problem. He wants to play a top six game but isn’t even really good enough to justify playing there on the worst team in the league. If he’s not going to try and take lessons to heart so that he can play an effective third liner game, then he’s just not gonna make it in the NHL.
His Dad thinks he deserves to be in the top 6 on a bad team and not on the 3rd line, but he is in no way better than Celebrini, Toffoli, Eklund, Wennberg or Smith. That just leaves one spot for him to compete for, and I don’t think he’s the only player who has been deserving of a shot there. If Warsofsky doesn’t think his off puck game has developed enough yet to keep him in the bottom 6 then its no wonder he’s been scratched at times. If your not getting the ice time and linemates to show… Read more »
Too bad. Earlier on in the year after the trade, I thought he looked like a good fit with Celebrini and who else was on that line back then.can’t recall? He seemed to have a pretty high end offensive iq and appeared to take plenty of hits to complete a play to gain the zone or move play the right way. Then, I don’t know what happened. Maybe there have been a lot of lapses in his game defensively but I didn’t think he was cherrypicking early on. I haven’t watched SJ play in about a month so don’t know… Read more »
If you can’t make it to the top line in a rebuild, well…
He simply hasn’t brought it consistently. If you’re 25 in the big boy league and you are as inconsistent as him then you’re going to get scratched. Go to the khl and take your immature little boy drama with you. Having your daddy speak to the GM is about the most immature little boy thing you can do. Go back to Russia, boy.
Grier has made some savvy trades, but the Blackwood one is not turning out to be one of his best. I don’t blame him because you have to take these swings, and Blackwood was on an expiring contract anyway. But Georgiev hasn’t rehabbed, and Kovalenko is not only panning out but also turning out to be a prima donna. I didn’t think a guy with 20 NHL points in 56 career games at age 25 could be a prima donna, but here we are.
Didn’t they get a 2nd round pick? That’s the main piece. The most important piece.