Ilya Kovalchuk is the star of modern hockey. This talented winger is currently defending the colors of the army from the banks of the Neva, playing in the KHL. However, several seasons ago, Kovalchuk shone in the best hockey league in the world - the NHL.
Ilya Kovalchuk made his NHL debut in the 2001-2002 season with the Atlanta Thrashers. The native of Tver was drafted by Atlanta in the first round of the draft under the overall first number. Overseas hockey scouts were not mistaken - Kovalchuk later turned into a world-class hockey star.
Ilya Kovalchuk spent eight seasons in Atlanta, after which he moved to New Jersey, where he defended the colors of the “devils” for four more seasons (until 2013). In total, Ilya has 816 matches in the NHL regular season. In these games, Kovalchuk scored 816 points on the goal + pass system. Of these, the striker hit the opponent's goal 417 times and became an assistant in scored goals 399 times. With such impressive statistics, Ilya's utility rate is a very low result (-116).
The most productive season of the NHL regular season for Ilya Kovalchuk was the 2005-2006 season. At this time, Kovalchuk played 78 matches, in which he scored 98 points on the goal + pass system (52 + 46). In the 2007-2008 season, Kovalchuk showed his best result in terms of the percentage of accurate shots, which was 18.4%. At the same time, Ilya's performance was also at the highest level - in 79 meetings 87 points (52 + 37).
Ilya Kovalchuk was the real leader of Atlanta, which was the reason for the appointment of the Russian hockey player as the captain of the American club. However, the general level of “Thrashers” did not allow Kovalchuk to play many matches in the Stanley Cup playoffs. So, out of eight seasons, Kovalchuk only once took part with the club in the elimination matches. In the 2006-2007 season, Kovalchuk played four playoff games, in which he scored two points (1 +1).
In the 2009 - 2010 and 2011 - 2012 seasons, Ilya, being a New Jersey player, played 28 games in the playoffs, in which he scored 25 points (10 + 15).
In 2013, Ilya Kovalchuk broke his contract with the New Jersey Devils and returned to Russia to defend the colors of the SKA club (St. Petersburg).
