There are certainly some intriguing factors involved in the possible pursuit of the well-regarded Russian superstar. His desire to play for the Cats as he’s made it apparent over the years that he’d be more than welcomed to become a Florida Panther. Some hints include: attending plenty Panthers games, wife has home in South Florida and Ilya mentioned Florida as one of the teams he’d strongly consider quite recently until announcing he’d remain in the KHL for another year(wants to play in Olympics).
His shoot first mentality is a characteristic the Panthers are in desperate need of as the Cats contain plenty of forwards who distribute the puck efficiently, that can set up numerous scoring chances for Kovalchuk who often capitalizes when receiving a great opportunity close range.