No offer for veteran forward Alex Kovalev, forced to go to KHL –NHL offseason Update
Alex Kovalev, one of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) most coveted at one point in history, has parted ways with North American hockey after he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and was not offered a contract from any of the 30 NHL franchises.
It was later learnt in a surprise move that Kovalev had signed a two-year deal with Atlant Mytishchi of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on Friday, after he most certainly became fed up of trying to find a place for himself in the NHL.
Having played 18 seasons in the American major league, Kovalev leaves as the 68th all-time NHL scorer with 1,302 games played along with 1,024 points scored (428 goals, 596 assists).
Atlant’s general director, on the other hand, was more than excited to have brought the experienced Russian player on board.
“We have long fought for Kovalev and we’re very glad that we could still come to terms with such a talented striker. We hope that Alex can reveal a wealth of potential in the Kontinental Hockey League, and thereby help to Atlant to fight for the highest
places in the next championships”, he said.
This is not certainly the first time Kovalev, a native of Togliatti, Russia, will be participating with Russian leagues. He has played in the Russian World Cup a number of times along with appearing in the Olympics with the Russian national team.
If this proves to be the end of the line in the NHL for the 38-year-old, he will certainly have ended it with a bang. The former 15th overall pick during the first-round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by New York Rangers, has played with a number
of teams throughout his career.
Teams like New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators have all benefitted from his well rounded performance.
Kovalev’s best performance came during the 2007-2008 season when he played in all 82-games and scored 84 points (35 goals, 49 assists) along with a plus-minus rating of 18.
All speculations aside, a return to the NHL after Kovalev takes some time off with the Russian leagues could always be a possibility. For now, one thing is sure, we will not see Kovalev for the next two-years.
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