Ilya Kovalchuk last played in the NHL in the 2012-2013 for the New Jersey Devils. A veteran of 816 NHL games, Kovalchuk has shown some interest in returning to the NHL, and the New York Rangers should do whatever they can to grab him once free agency begins in July.
The 34-year-old, selected number one overall in the 2001 NHL Draft by the Atlanta Flames, has spent the last five and a half years in the KHL playing for St. Petersburgh SKA —the same team that New York Rangers prospect’s Igor Shestyorkin and Yegor Rykov play for.