Kings bring Kovalchuk back to NHL
After five years back home in Russia, Ilya Kovalchuk is ready to resume his Stanley Cup chase with the Los Angeles Kings.
The high-scoring forward agreed to a three-year, $18.75 million deal with the Kings on Saturday, choosing Los Angeles over several interested teams for his return to the NHL.
The 35-year-old Kovalchuk scored 816 points in 816 career games for the Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils before leaving North America in 2013 for the Kontinental Hockey League’s SKA St. Petersburg. He led the KHL in scoring last season, and he was the MVP of the Olympic tournament in Pyeongchang while propelling the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” to a gold medal.
“He gives us an added element of skill and scoring, along with a desire to win,” Kings general manager Rob Blake said.
Boston and San Jose were among the suitors for Kovalchuk, but the Kings made a topdollar offer to add him to a lineup that could use another dependable goal-scorer. Kovalchuk is likely to be particularly important on the power play for the Kings, who ranked in Ilya Kovalchuk, firing a shot against Germany during the gold medal game, helped the Olympic Athletes from Russia win the tournament.
the middle of the NHL standings in most team scoring categories.
Kovalchuk was the first Russian to be the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft when Atlanta chose him in 2001. He quickly became one of the NHL’s most consistent scorers with his wicked shot and hockey sense.
He spent nearly eight years with the Thrashers and three seasons with the Devils, who acquired him in a trade in February 2010.
Just three seasons into a 15-year, $100 million contract with New Jersey, Kovalchuk abruptly left the NHL for St. Petersburg amid complaints about North American taxes and the distance from his family. Kovalchuk and his wife have four children.
Brit gets drafted
Liam Kirk became the first player born and trained in England to be selected in the NHL draft.
Early in the seventh and final round of the draft, the Arizona Coyotes took the 18-year-old Kirk with the 189th overall pick.
“To finally see my name on the board was just incredible,” Kirk said by phone from England. “And to get a call from the GM was even better, just to know that’s the place I’m going. And that’s what I’m aiming to be, and to play my NHL career.”
The 6-foot, 161pound Kirk played this
season for Sheffield Steelers in the Elite Ice Hockey League, the highest level of competition in the United Kingdom, and for a team where the average age is 28. He had nine goals and seven assists in 52 games for the Steelers in his second season with the team.
Tim Bernhardt, Arizona’s director of amateur scouting, said NHL Central Scouting identified Kirk. The Coyotes then sent one of their scouts in Europe to see him, and more followed.
“He’s a thin kid, needs a lot of physical development, but they said he’s got a good idea of the game, and his natural skills were very good,” Bernhardt said.
Born in Rotherham, Kirk this year became the first player born and trained in England to attend the NHL’s pre-draft scouting combine in Buffalo. Now he is the first to be drafted, and he wants to be the first to play in the NHL.
“I just want to prove myself, and prove I can play,” said Kirk, who will soon move to North America to start playing here.
Five-player trade
The Carolina Hurricanes acquired defenseman Dougie Hamilton as part of a five-player trade with the Calgary Flames.
Carolina got Hamilton, winger Micheal Ferland and prospect Adam Fox from Calgary for center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin in the biggest trade so far this offseason.
The 25-year-old Hamilton has been traded at the draft twice after going from the Boston Bruins to the Flames three years ago. The 6-foot-6 right-shot defender has 220 points in 423 regular-season games.