Music: {allcanada} Report: Kovalev heading to KHL

Friday, July 29, 2011

{allcanada} Report: Kovalev heading to KHL

If reports are true, Alex Kovalev's NHL career could be over.

The website Sports Express is reporting Kovalev has agreed to a two-year contract with Atlant Mytishchi of the Kontinental Hockey League. The 38-year-old Kovalev will be 40 when that contract expires.

Kovalev has played for the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators during his 17-year career. He was most recently with the Penguins for a second stint after he was dealt by the Senators at the trade deadline. He had 16 goals and 34 points in 54 games with the Senators and Penguins this past season.

In 1,302 career games, Kovalev has 428 goals and 1,024 points. He won the Stanley Cup as a rookie with the Rangers in 1994 and has 45 goals and 100 points in 124 career postseason games. His best season came in 2000-01 with the Penguins, when he had a career-high 44 goals and 95 points.

Kovalev's numbers have dipped during the past three years. After a 35-goal, 84-point season with the Canadiens in 2007-08, he fell to 26 goals and 65 points the following season. With the Senators in 2009-10, he had 18 goals and 49 points.