By Justin Worsley
It seems that the Devils deadline trade was not a temporary fix after all. According to NHL.com, winger Ilya Kovalchuk has decided to re-sign with New Jersey.
Kovalchuk, who spent his entire career in Atlanta until he was traded to New Jersey last season, was arguably the best player available in free agency this year and was courted by many teams. The Los Angeles Kings were heavily pursuing the 27-year-old, bringing him to Los Angeles on several occasions, however, contract negotiations broke down on every visit.
In 27 games last season, Kovalchuk scored 10 goals and 17 assists for the Devils and added two more goals along with four assists in the playoffs. In his career, the Russian-born player has scored 338 goals in 621 career games.
The signing of Kovalchuk comes as a sigh of relief for New Jersey, who were knocked out of the opening round of the playoffs by Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia. New Jersey is looking to bring in a stronger team after re-singing Kovalchuk and the return of Jason Arnott.
Kovalchuk has been named to three All-Star games in his career.
No comments:
Post a Comment