In the five years since Ilya Kovalchuk abandoned his contract with the New Jersey Devils to play for SKA St. Petersburg in his native Russia, the NHL has trended toward a style driven by youth and speed. Kovalchuk, 35, will not bring youth or speed to the Kings, who signed him to a three-year, $18.75-million contract as a free agent this month and expanded their already sizable stockpile of 30-somethings.
“Obviously it’s changed,” Kovalchuk said of the league’s new up-tempo game. “Time’s running and I’m not getting younger. We’ll see.”
The Kings, still clinging to the theory that the players at the core of their 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup championship teams can lead them to another Cup run, hope to see something close to the old Kovalchuk.