It’s becoming increasingly clear that there’s a rift between the SKA Saint Petersburg coaching staff and Ilya Kovalchuk. In the first round of the KHL playoffs, Kovalchuk was stripped of his captaincy and he was made a healthy scratch in Games 2 through 5.
SKA allowed him to return to the lineup for Game 1 of their second round series. He didn’t record a point in the first three games and again he was removed from the lineup ahead of Game 4. Without him, SKA turned in a dominant performance against Dynamo.
Kovalchuk has one year remaining on his contract, but it looks like his time with SKA might really be over.
2 things obvious so far in Kovalchuk/SKA saga: 1) Plenty of mutual resentment between him and coach, 2) He isn't missed by the team. At all.
— Slava Malamud 🇺🇦 (@SlavaMalamud) March 13, 2016
Kovalchuk options, most to least likely: 1) New KHL team, 2) Find way to stay at SKA, 3) Petition NHL for return, 4) Retire/political career
— Slava Malamud 🇺🇦 (@SlavaMalamud) March 13, 2016
At this point, I'd put the chances of SKA's terminating Kovalchuk's deal at slightly above 50%. Immediate NHL comeback still unlikely, but..
— Slava Malamud 🇺🇦 (@SlavaMalamud) March 13, 2016
Related: