Canadiens add Kovalchuk with hopes to instill some offence

BROSSARD, Que. Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin sold the acquisition of Ilya Kovalchuk on Friday as a lowrisk move designed to offset several injuries to the club’s forward group.

The struggling NHL club agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the 36-year-old free-agent forward — a digestible two-way deal that is worth US$700,000 at the NHL level and $70,000 in the AHL.

Kovalchuk, 36, had nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) and 12 penalty minutes over 17 games this season with the Los Angeles Kings, who placed him on waivers last month. His last game was on Nov. 9, coincidentally against his new hockey club at the Bell Centre.

“He know it’s his last chance,” Bergevin told reporters at the club’s suburban practice facility.

The general manager said he did his due diligence on the NHL’s first overall pick from 2001 — current Canadiens forward Nate Thompson played with Kovalchuk in Los Angeles while the club’s assistant general manager Scott Mellanby did so in Atlanta, which used the top selection on Kovalchuk.

“I’ve never heard anything bad about Kovy, he’s a hard worker, he’s a good person,” Bergevin said.

Thompson played in Los Angeles with Kovalchuk for two-thirds of last season.

“He’s a pretty happy-golucky guy, he really loves the game,” Thompson said. “That’s why he works so hard, he wants to do well, he wants to compete, he wants to get better, so I think it’ll be good, it’ll be good for us. I think it’ll be good for the young guys to see that, he’s going to bring some good enthusiasm to our team.”

It will be up to Kovalchuk to buy into the system employed by the Canadiens and head coach Claude Julien.

“We have nothing to lose, we’ll see, where he’s at, where his game is at,” Bergevin said. “It’s going to be up to him.”

Kovalchuk has 859 points (436-423) in 897 career regular-season NHL games.