The flashy sixth-round pick by the Colorado Avalanche in 2018 has signed for three more seasons with Locomotiv Hockey Club of the KHL. Nikolai Kovalenko has spent the last four seasons (that we know of) in the Locomotiv organization playing for their U16, U17, MHL, and KHL squads. In two games in the KHL, Kovalenko did not register a point. The KHL is notorious for not playing young players, and even if they are forced to dress a kid, they will just make them sit the entire match.
In his age-18 season, Kovalenko spent the majority of his season (33 games) with Locomotiv’s junior team Loko Yaroslavl of the MHL and nearly scored at a point per game pace (10 goals, 21 assists, 31 points).