NHL Free Agency: Top 5 suitors for Ilya Kovalchuk

After 5 years in the KHL, Ilya Kovalchuk is ready to come back to the NHL. Here are his five best suitors in NHL free agency.

Ilya Kovalchuk is looking to come back to the NHL after leaving for the KHL five years ago. It’s been a while since we’ve heard this name so his time in North America so our memory of him is a little rusty. If you would like a quick refresher, here’s an ESPN article to help jog your memory. Kovalchuk will enter the offseason as one of the gems of NHL free agency.

Before he left for the KHL, he played in 816 NHL games and had 417 goals, 399 assists for 816 points. This guy was the real deal and now he’s poised to come back. With such a big name circulating around the free agency market, many teams are interested in his services. Here are the five most prominent teams surrounding the Kovalchuk sweepstakes:

St. Louis Blues

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General manager Doug Armstrong has expressed his interest in the 35-year-old forward.

“There’s nothing planned yet on a visit,” said Armstrong, via Sportsnet, “but we certainly talked to his agent asking him to explore our situation and see if there’s interest.”

The Blues are a good team with talent up front but they didn’t make it to the playoffs last season because of injuries to key players. At full health and with an energized Kovalchuk, they could be a big threat. The Blues already have two Russians in Vladimir Tarasenko and Vladimir Sobotka, so this should help.

Boston Bruins

Don Sweeney, general manager of the Bruins, spoke to Kovalchuk to get a feel of what the Russian is looking for. They’re sniffing around and all that’s standing in their way is the financials. The Bruins currently have a little over $6 million in cap space, not counting the six free agents coming off the books. Though this will go up once the new salary cap ceiling is confirmed.

They will want to re-sign Riley Nash, but that’s about it. It’s no surprise that Kovalchuk wants a Cup to add to his resume and the Boston Bruins are a young team that would be a good bet for him.

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings’ name is circulating around the Kovalchuk sweepstakes, but if Ilya has half a brain cell, he would see that Detroit is a horrible place to go right now. He wants to win right now and this team is not close. Kovalchuk isn’t a good fit for the Wings and the Wings aren’t a good fit for him.

San Jose Sharks

Kovalchuk went on a California trip two weeks ago to meet with the Anaheim Ducks, LA Kings, and San Jose Sharks. Of those three teams, the Sharks seems like the most likely candidate for him. They just went to the second round, re-signed Evander Kane, and has one of the most underrated groups of centers in the league with Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, and Tomas Hertl. Martin Jones is one of the most consistent goalies in the league and they are long overdue for a Stanley Cup.

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars have over $17 million in cap space to throw at Kovalchuk. They have a powerhouse forward group but the biggest reason could be Alexander Radulov. Radulov went through exactly what Kovalchuk is about to do and he actually came back a way better player than before.

He played for CSKA Moscow in the KHL, the same team Kovalchuk played for. The difference between hockey in Russia and North America is huge and Radulov will play a big part in guiding his fellow countryman back into the NHL.

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Wherever Ilya Kovalchuk decides to go to, he will make that team better. He’s a big man with great scoring talent and it will be fun to see him back in the NHL.

To stay updated during the chaos of NHL free agency, check out our Free Agency page! Also, check out our NHL Free Agency Tracker.

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