Kovalev/Habs talk along with Koivu update

This from Pierre Lebrun

I don’t think Alexei Kovalev was very happy getting squeezed out of Montreal, a place he absolutely loved living in, and a team he liked playing for.

The good news for the veteran Russian star is he only has to move 90 minutes away down the highway in Ottawa after signing a two-year, $10 million contract with the Senators on Monday. And no matter what he says, I guarantee the fact he picked a divisional rival was not by coincidence. He will relish trying to rub it in every chance he gets.

The question is, why is he no longer in a Habs uniform? Here’s what we can gather from various sources.

In the days leading up to July 1, the Canadiens made him an offer; the Kovalev camp countered June 30 with a pitch Montreal didn’t like; the Habs made another offer the morning of July 1 before the market opened; the Kovalev camp countered again with an offer that was deemed again unacceptable by Montreal.

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