Report: Kovalev wants to return to the NHL
Alex Kovalev wants to return to the NHL and re-join the Montreal Canadiens, according to Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette. At 39-years-old Kovalev is ready to return to the NHL, but the question remains, does anybody want him?
Following the 2010-11 season Kovalev found himself without a team or a contract after 18 seasons in the NHL, so he decided to take his talents overseas. Kovalev played the 2011-12 season with Moscow Oblast Atlant of the KHL, registering six points (one goal, five assist) in 22 games.
Kovalev's last stint in the NHL was not the storybook ending to his career that he might have been hoping for. After signing a two-year $10 million contract with the Ottawa Senators in 2009, Kovalev eventually waived his no-trade clause so that the Senators could deal him to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
A 7th-round draft pick was all the Senators could get out of the Penguins for their $5 million a year man. Kovalev played his final 20 games with the Penguins, recording two goals and five assists. Following the Penguins' early exit from the playoffs, general manager Ray Shero said that he had no intentions of re-signing Kovalev.
In 1,302 NHL games Kovalev has 428 goals and 596 assists for 1,024 career points.
