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Is Ilya Kovalchuk holding out for a deal that trumps Alex Ovechkin’s contract?

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When Alex Ovechkin was entering the league as a rookie, I thought it was unfair when people compared him to Ilya Kovalchuk. Ultimately, the comparisons weren’t fair ... to Ilya.

At this point, you’d have to be Kovalchuk, one of his family members or maybe his agent to think that he is on the same rung of the NHL superstar ladder as Ovechkin. While Alex O has hit the 100-plus point mark in three of his four NHL seasons, Kovalchuk never eclipsed triple digits in his career. Even beyond scoring points, Ovechkin is a physically intimidating force while Kovalchuk tends to linger around the perimeter. When you also consider the fact that Ovechkin is a charming - if uneven - media darling, then the gulf between the two Russian snipers is considerable.

Yet, at least according to some, Kovalchuk still seems to think he’s in Ovechkin’s class. Some even think that he’s holding out for a contract that will pay him more than his fellow countryman and friendly rival. Here’s more from Puck Daddy yesterday.

The more you think about Kovalchuk and Ovechkin’s $124 million, 13-year contract with the Washington Capitals, the more it seems to fit with his behavior this summer.

The oft-quoted $100 million figure seemed like a mandatory benchmark for Kovalchuk, and Ovechkin got nine figures. The oft-quoted $10 million annually he’s allegedly asked for, at least at the front end of the contract, would eclipse Ovechkin’s salary. The KHL escape pod hasn’t been activated, perhaps because Ovechkin’s in the NHL until 2021 (when he’ll make $10 million as a base salary, by the way).

What about the long-term aspect of his demands? Playing Hockey Freud for a moment, it could be because Ovechkin became a franchise player for the Capitals, turned their fortunes around and has been celebrated for doing so. He didn’t go hockey mercenary like some teams want Kovalchuk to go.

Even going beyond Ovechkin’s clear superiority over Kovalchuk, let’s not forget one big fact. Most of the players who sign those crazy-huge lifetime contracts do so with the teams who drafted them. It’s not just a matter of personal pride because you could say that a given team had always planned to devote a significant amount of salary to that player. Kovalchuk is asking for huge, unplanned-for money from a) the Devils a team he played a month of hockey with or b) the Kings, a team that barely even saw him since he spent his career on a mediocre team in another conference or c) a team playing in Russia.

I’ve written about this before, but Kovalchuk got his chance for a luxurious and bloated contract when Atlanta tried to lock him up long-term. Since all the details we’ve heard about are fuzzy at best, it’s hasty to call Kovalchuk greedy without knowing all the numbers.

Still, you have to wonder if he’s being a little delusional. Sorry, Ilya, but if you want to get paid more than your buddy Alex you’ll need to be better than him. If this whole thing was about besting Ovechkin then Kovalchuk may never get his way.