Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Report: Kovalchuk to be named captain of KHL club

IHOCKEY-WORLD-GER-RUS

Russia’s forward Ilya Kovalchuk sits on the bench during the preliminary round match Germany vs Russia of the IIHF International Ice Hockey World Championship in Helsinki on May 5, 2013. AFP PHOTO/ ALEXANDER NEMENOV +++RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE+++ (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

It won’t be in the NHL, but Ilya Kovalchuk will still be wearing a letter on his sweater next season.

Kovalchuk will soon be named captain of his new club, SKA St. Petersburg, according to Russian news outlet R-Sport. He joined the KHL team in July after stunning the Devils organization by retiring with 14 years and $77 million remaining on his contract.

Kovalchuk had previously served as the captain in Atlanta from 2009-10, and an alternate in New Jersey from 2010-2013.

Following news of his retirement, the 30-year-old sniper inked a four-year deal with SKA, a club that apparently holds him in the highest esteem. During the lockout, the team gave Kovalchuk its captaincy -- replacing veteran and ex-NHLer Dmitri Kalinin -- and reports claim SKA is paying Kovalchuk $10 million annually with this new deal.