The Ilya Kovalchuk saga may be over, at least for now. Larry Brooks of the New York Post is reporting that the Russian winger will return to the KHL for another season, making him an unrestricted free agent and able to sign with any team next summer. Andrew Gross of The Record confirms the report that he’s headed back, though there has not been any confirmation from a KHL team on where he’ll play next season.
Kovalchuk’s camp has been talking to teams around the NHL for months since announcing his desire to return to the league next season, but hasn’t been able to find a deal that would be be acceptable to him, his new team and the New Jersey Devils. The Devils, though not interested in bringing Kovalchuk onto their own team, still had his rights and would have had to complete a sign-and-trade with another team to see him play in the league. Brooks reports that Devils’ GM Ray Shero did try to facilitate trades, but nothing worked out in the end.
The 34-year old will become a UFA next summer on July 1st, but will be hampered by the restrictions placed on 35-year old contracts in the NHL. Any contract signed after a player turns 35 will count against the cap regardless of whether the player retires or is bought out, and since Kovalchuk comes with a checkered past in this regard, it’s unlikely to see a team offer him any sort of long-term deal.
There is also doubt about his ability to even make an impact at the NHL level, as even though he put up 78 points this season for SKA St. Petersburg, things haven’t always been so rosy for him in Russia. Two years ago Kovalchuk scored only 16 goals on a less talented St. Petersburg team, and even this year his play fell off in the Gagarin Cup playoffs. While he was one of the most dominant power forwards in NHL history for a time, there is no guarantee his game can still work in the newer, faster league of today.
That’s not to say he won’t find a deal in 2018, as there will surely be teams after him with no compensation attached. Any contender who believes they can fit Kovalchuk into their system could make an offer, hoping to at least get a 20-goal version of him. With players like Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton getting big paydays even at advanced ages, it’s clear there will be a market for Kovalchuk next summer, though it might come on a very short-term deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
WARNING: Fuss-to-action ratio dangerously out of balance
I was hoping he’d come back, but oh well.
See you next year stud!