Jul 26: After officially signing him to a two-year entry-level contract worth $896,250 per season yesterday, CapFriendly confirms Colorado has loaned Kovalenko back to Torpedo for next season.
Jul 22: It appears that Colorado will soon be signing one of their prospects. Torpedo of the KHL announced on their Twitter account that the Avalanche will be signing winger Nikolai Kovalenko to an entry-level contract but will loan him back to Torpedo for the upcoming season.
The 23-year-old was a sixth-round pick of the Avs back in 2018 (171st overall) and has certainly outperformed his draft stock since then. Last season, he had a breakout year in his first season with Torpedo, notching 21 goals and 33 assists in 56 games. For context, his previous career best in points in the KHL was 21. That performance put him third in the league in points per game.
That performance appears to have landed Kovalenko on the NHL radar. His contract will be a two-year agreement, meaning he’ll be able to suit up full time in North America in 2024-25 or when his KHL playoffs come to an end this season. The KHL regular season ends in late February so it’s quite possible that Kovalenko will be available to Colorado late in the 2023-24 campaign.
If he’s able to have a repeat of his 2022-23 performance next year, Kovalenko could be an interesting addition to the Avs down the stretch this coming year, giving them a low-cost addition to their forward group where he’d likely start in their bottom six. Regardless of whether he suits up for the Avalanche next season, his contract will count against their limit of 50.
Andrei Kovalenko’s favorite son…as long as he’s on the “+” side of the ledger on any given night. ;)
The hope is Kovalenko will fit right in with the 3rd line of Colton and Wood – moving LOC to strengthen the 4th line. I would still like to see the Avs sign Suter if he is willing to accept less on a one-year deal to play for a Stanley Cup contender.
It’s clear he has some offensive upside, but it will be interesting to see if it translates to the NHL. The article gives no indication on whether he is supported in Russia for a transition to North America. There appears to be evidence that Russia is leaning hard on some drafted prospects to remain in Russia for the time being.