A couple of months ago Ilya Kovalchuk was out of a job and willing to play for any price in order to increase his odds of finding a new one. There still didn’t seem to be much interest in the 36-year-old, whom many presumed finished.
Eventually, an injury-plagued, offensively-starved Montreal team decided to gamble on Kovalchuk. All it took was a one-year deal worth $700,000 to get his signature and, boy, are they getting their money’s worth.
Only four teams have more wins than Montreal (9) in the 15 games since Kovalchuk entered the lineup. That’s not a coincidence; he’s been a big factor.