Kovalchuk returning to league with Los Angeles
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 the 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 top-dollar 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 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 3½ seasons with the Devils, who acquired him in a trade in February 2010.
Kovalchuk had little playoff success in his NHL career until 2012, when he reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Devils after leading the Eastern Conference playoffs in scoring. New Jersey lost the Final in six games to the Kings.
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. HURRICANES-FLAMES TRADE HIGHLIGHTS DRAFT DEALS >> The Carolina Hurricanes acquired defenseman Dougie Hamilton on as part of a five-player trade with the Calgary Flames at the draft.
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.
“When you’ve gone as long as we have without making the playoffs the message is we want to be better, we want to compete and we want to win,” Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said.
The 25-year-old Hamilton, a 6-foot-6 right-shot defender, has 220 points in 423 regular-season games.
“You’re talking about Dougie Hamilton,” Waddell said. “I think he’s got 90-some points the last two years, one of the premier offensive players as a defenseman in the league . ... We talked all along that we feel like we’ve got a lot of skill pieces up front and we need a little size and muscle up front, so Ferland, who scored 20 or 21 goals last year, fit that bill pretty well for us.”
Giving up the 21-year-old Hanifin and 23-year-old Lindholm was a heavy price to pay for the Hurricanes. Hanifin was the fifth overall pick in 2015 and joins an already deep blue line that includes Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie.
AVALANCHE SIGN NEW GOALIE >> The Colorado Avalanche signed goaltender Philipp Grubauer to a three-year, $10 million contract and put defenseman Brooks Orpik on buyout waivers the day after acquiring them from the Washington Capitals.
Grubauer will split time with Semyon Varlamov in net this season and could take over as Colorado’s No. 1 goalie in 2019-20. He’ll count $3.3 million against the salary cap the next three years.
“We all feel that he’s ready to take the next step and become a No. 1,” Colorado GM Joe Sakic said. “We’re excited to have two No. 1 goalies.”
Assuming Orpik clears waivers, Colorado can buy him out today. Sakic told Orpik after trading for him that the team planned to explore a trade or buy out the 37-yearold’s $5.5 million salary.