Having started following hockey a couple of years before Ovechkin and Crosby came into the league, the hottest prospect at that time used to be the Russian sharpshooter Ilya Kovalchuk.

You really thought he would become the greatest sniper the league has ever seen and guiding the Atlanta Thrashers to a Stanley Cup victory. He was on a great pace, scoring 40 and 50 goal seasons but the Great Eight had already stepped in the league and claimed the Tsar's Throne.

Shortly after an unsuccessful trip to the Finals, Kovy moved back home to Russia for a bigger payday, and thus his impressive prime in the NHL was cut short. Ovechkin on the other hand went out to win it all and is closing in on Gretzky's unbeatable record.

11 comments

  1. That’s because we somehow tolerated his Russian propaganda in DC despite murica. Kovy kept his mouth shut and wallet open to the highest bidder.

  4. If Heatly, Hossa and Kovalchuk all played together from 2003 til 2010 as a line who knows how much those three could’ve done

  6. Interesting take. If Kovalchuk had stayed in North America longer he may have had more success, but I’m not sure he would have won a Cup since he didn’t play for many great teams besides the Devils’ unlikely Cup run in 2012. In fairness though, the Devils tanked because they chose to keep Kovalchuk instead of their other talents and once he left for Russia the team was hollowed out and couldn’t compete while its former talents were in the twilight of their careers. If management had effectively built around Kovalchuk despite losing guys like Parisé, then maybe contention would have been possible, but I don’t think it would be likely. Alternatively, they could have traded him to a contender for a huge haul if he’d stayed, and he might have pushed one of those good-not-great playoff teams finally over the hump if they could have made the cap work. By the time he finally came back to North America it was too late and he was no longer a superstar by NHL standards, so he left again after just a few seasons without any hardware.

  8. Kovy delivered on the hype but he didn’t have the luxury of being drafted by a competent organization. Had he been drafted by any other team, there’s no telling what could have happened.

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