Kings force Kovalchuk out of their lineup!

When the Los Angeles Kings hired head coach Todd MacLean this summer, it was believed that he was the right man in charge to push all the right buttons on veteran forward Ilya Kolvachuk. 

Kovalchuk’s first season in Los Angeles, albeit a 34-point campaign, was a failure, seeing that he was expected to record 20-plus goals and 50-plus points.

However, MacLellan hasn’t been able to get the best out of the veteran player, who is now expected to be out of the lineup for the foreseeable future. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that he will be allowed to the practice with the team, but won’t be playing.

Kovi has collected nine points in 17 games this season, but only three points in his last 10 outings. 

The Kings have been looking to make moves to get a younger roster and start a full-on rebuild and clearly Kovalchuk does not appear to fit in the team’s future. 

There might not be any more buttons to push and simply push Kovi out…