While Ilya Kovalchulk’s recovery from ankle surgery was initially expected to have a four-week expectancy, Kovalchuk appears to be ahead of schedule. He’d recently been spotted skating outside of Kings’ practices and finally joined in as a full participant on Wednesday. Skating on a line with Brendan Leipsic and Nate Thompson, Kovalchuk was in a regular colored jersey and looks poised to make a return this weekend.
Kovalchuk’s injury at least gives some time for Willie Desjardins to stall on figuring out a way to better integrate Kovalchuk into his lineup.