Leaves Los Angeles Without Contract

Free agent Ilya Kovalchuk is still trying to convince someone to bite on his $100 million asking price. His latest visit was to the Los Angeles Kings.

Jay Grossman, Kovalchuk’s New York-based agent, met with members of the Kings’ hockey operations department before leaving Los Angeles on Tuesday night. It’s not clear if Grossman and Kovalchuk made any concessions on their initial $100-million price. General Manager Dean Lombardi, who declined to comment, has said the club can’t pay Kovalchuk a $10-million average annual salary, retain core players and add the pieces he still needs for the Kings to become Stanley Cup contenders.

Dude, come off the $100 million, figure out what teams are actually willing to pay, compromise a little and get this over with. At this point, this whole Kovalchuk saga is beyond ridiculous.