The New Jersey Devils are tied to a pretty crazy story that kind of falls under the rug of NHL lore. It’s likely because Ilya Kovalchuk is a more recent story of a Russian bolting the NHL, and he was a bonafide star when he left. However, the story of Alexander Korolyuk may be crazier than Kovy’s story.
Korolyuk bounced back and forth between Russian and the San Jose Sharks because he had major issues with then Sharks coach Darryl Sutter. It got so bad that he left the country and the NHL until he was fired.