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Ilya Kovalchuk, once considered a big-name candidate for a return to the NHL, is staying in Russia to play the 2017-18 season with SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.
And Vladimir Putin's people might have had something to do with it.
Jay Grossman, Kovalchuk's agent, confirmed Tuesday that the former Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils standout and one-time $100 million winger would remain in the KHL until at least 2018, as the New York Post first reported.