On Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils …
Sportsnet: Ilya Kovalchuk retired from the NHL after the 2012-13 season so that he could head back to Russia and play in the KHL. Kovalchuk is looking to return to the NHL next season after finishing second on KHL scoring with 78 points in 60 games. His NHL rights still belong to the Devils.
“The New Jersey Devils own his rights, he could sign and play for them no problem,” said Elliotte Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada’s Headlines segment. “If he wants to play for somebody else, technically all the other NHL teams would have to approve it.
“But here’s the way that this I think is going to work: if he doesn’t want to play for New Jersey or if New Jersey doesn’t want him playing for them, and neither the agent nor the team is commenting on this, I think whoever gets him is going to work out either a sign and trade with New Jersey or they’re going to trade for his rights.”
Friedman thinks there will be significant interest in the 34-year old winger.
Chris Ryan of NJ.com: Devils GM Ray Shero said back in April that they would keep Ilya Kovalchuk on their radar this offseason.
“If and when he ever wants to come back, certainly we’d have to check with the league, see what our rights are, see what his rights are,” Shero said during the team’s break up day on April 11. “It’s a situation that doesn’t happen every day. I wasn’t here, but I appreciated watching him as a player for a long time, but we’ll wait and see what happens when the season’s over. If we hear something, we hear something.”
In his three seasons with the Devils, Kovalchuk recorded 174 points. In his best year, 2011-12, he recorded 83 points.
