Ilya Kovalchuk

 ( 1983 Births ) 

In the 2006–07 season, Kovalchuk's point production dropped for the first time in his career. He finished with 42 goals and 34 assists for 76 points. During a game against the Nashville Predators on 11 January 2006, Predators head coach Barry Trotz accused Kovalchuk with "always plays with an illegal stick". Trotz had asked the referees to check Kovalchuk's stick following a Thrashers goal, but claimed Kovalchuk was able to switch his stick before the referees could check. Despite his drop in production on the season, Kovalchuk and the Thrashers qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Kovalchuk scored one goal and one assist in his NHL playoffs debut as the team lost in the opening round to the New York Rangers in four games.

In 2007–08, Kovalchuk scored two consecutive in a loss to the Ottawa Senators and a win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on 1 and 3 November 2007, respectively. Later that season, on 23 January 2008, Kovalchuk was suspended for one game by the NHL for a hit from behind on New York Rangers defenceman Michal Rozsíval in a game a day prior. He finished with his second 52-goal season in three years, along with 35 assists for 87 points.

With the departure of Bobby Holík to the New Jersey Devils in the 2008 off-season, the Thrashers' captaincy remained vacant for the first half of the 2008–09 season. Kovalchuk served as one of five alternate captains to start the season until the alternates collectively requested to general manager Don Waddell and head coach John Anderson for Kovalchuk to take over the captaincy. Soon thereafter, on 11 January 2009, Kovalchuk was named Holík's successor and the sixth team captain in Thrashers' history during the team's Casino Night charity event. The announcement came amidst speculation that the Thrashers were looking to trade Kovalchuk, as his contract was set to expire at the end of the following season. Kovalchuk completed his first season as team captain with 43 goals for his fifth consecutive 40-goal season and 91 points.

Near the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Kovalchuk scored the 300th and 301st goal of his NHL career in a 4–2 win during the St. Louis Blues' home opener on 8 October 2009. He was leading the NHL in goals several weeks into the season when he suffered a broken foot after blocking a shot in a game against the San Jose Sharks on 24 October.

Kovalchuk recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick – a goal, an assist, and a fight – on 4 February 2012, the second anniversary of his trade to the Devils, against the Philadelphia Flyers. This was the first such hat trick ever recorded by Kovalchuk and second in the Devils' franchise, following Adam Henrique the month before. Kovalchuk assisted on two goals by teammate Kurtis Foster, scored a short-handed goal, then fought Brayden Schenn after a scrum formed when Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo performed a slew-foot on Devils captain Zach Parise.

Kovalchuk recorded his first scoring hat-trick as a member of the Devils on 14 February 2012, during a 4–1 victory in Buffalo against the Buffalo Sabres. On 8 March, Kovalchuk's 13th career hat trick and second hat-trick as a New Jersey Devil was recorded. The Devils won 5–1 against the New York Islanders, with Kovalchuk being the first star of the night. On 20 March, Kovalchuk became the 87th player in NHL history to score 400 goals. It was the lone goal of a 1–0 victory over the Ottawa Senators. He was given third star of the night.

Kovalchuk ended the 2011–12 season with seven game-deciding shootout goals and 11 shootout goals in total, setting a new record in both categories. The NHL first introduced shootouts in 2005. Kovalchuk and the Devils won the 2011–12 Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers in six games, setting a Stanley Cup meeting with the Los Angeles Kings. Despite leading the 2012 playoffs in scoring through the first three rounds, Kovalchuk was playing with a herniated disc and was largely ineffective against the Kings, scoring just one point in the series, an empty-net goal in game 4, as the Devils fell to the Kings in six games.

Another contract was subsequently submitted to the NHL. During the early morning hours of 4 September 2010, the NHL approved the contract along with a new agreement with the NHLPA. The contract was for 15-years and worth $100 million.

Consequently, the NHL penalized the Devils for trying to circumvent the NHL salary cap with Kovalchuk's original contract. As a result, the Devils surrendered $3 million, a third-round draft choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and one future first-round draft pick within the next four seasons. The Devils decided to use their first-round draft pick in the 2011 and 2012 NHL Entry Drafts and were to surrender their first-round pick in 2014. However, on 6 March 2014, the NHL announced it would forgive part of the $3 million fine and grant the Devils the 30th pick in the first round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

On 11 July 2013, Kovalchuk chose to retire from the NHL. Although Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello knew Kovalchuk had been considering retirement since before the 2012–13 shortened season, Kovalchuk's departure came as a surprise to the public. Upon leaving, Kovalchuk had $77 million and 12 years remaining on his contract. Kovalchuk claimed he desired to return home to Russia along with his family, though it was speculated that money had quite an influence as well, due to the higher total salary Kovalchuk would receive in Russia via the far lower Russian tax rate compared to the U.S.Gretz, Adam (2013). Ilya Kovalchuk announces retirement "CBSsports – Eyeon hockey" Kovalchuk tallied 417 goals and 816 points in 816 games in his first stint in the NHL.

Kovalchuk signed a four-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg on 15 July 2013. The contract, signed less than a week after Kovalchuk's retirement from the NHL, was alleged to be comparable to his former contract with the Devils. He helped the team win the 2014–15 Gagarin Cup for the first time. He was chosen as the MVP of 2015 Gagarin Cup playoffs, but passed the award to Evgenii Dadonov. He won a second Gagarin Cup, again with SKA Saint Petersburg, in 2016–17.

On 5 February 2019, the Kings faced the Devils at Prudential Center. Each time Kovalchuk touched the puck or the PA announcer, Kevin Clark, mentioned his name, Kovalchuk was roundly booed by Devils fans. Kovalchuk scored once as the Kings defeated the Devils 5–1.

With 14 points in his first 14 games, the 2018–19 season had started well for Kovalchuk, but badly for the team. Head coach John Stevens was fired and replaced by Willie Desjardins, who reduced Kovalchuk's ice time significantly. As a disappointing season came to a close, Kovalchuk expressed his frustration, saying "I don't have a chance" under Desjardins. The day after their season ended, having finished second from the bottom overall, the Kings announced that Desjardins would not be back the following year.

In the 2019–20 season, after Kovalchuk had played his seventeenth game for the Kings, the team announced that he would be scratched for the "foreseeable future". On 17 December the Kings terminated Kovalchuk's contract and he became an unrestricted free agent.

Despite his contributions, the team was out of the playoff picture and after 22-game and 13-point tenure, Kovalchuk was traded on 23 February 2020 to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Kovalchuk recorded four points in seven regular season games and one point in eight playoff games as the Capitals were eliminated in the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs by the New York Islanders.