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

Kings’ Ilya Kovalchuk to miss four weeks with ankle woes

0rVwU4cP5PcS
A year after watching his brother get drafted, Jack Hughes will enter the 2019 NHL Draft as the projected No. 1 pick, fulfilling a lifelong dream.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles Kings forward Ilya Kovalchuk will be sidelined for about four weeks after undergoing a procedure on his ankle.

Kovalchuk underwent an ankle bursectomy Sunday, the Kings announced.

The veteran Russian forward has five goals and nine assists in 25 games since returning to the NHL with the Kings this season. Kovalchuk spent the previous five years with SKA St. Petersburg in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.

The 35-year-old Kovalchuk hasn’t scored in his past 11 consecutive games, and his role has shrunk in recent weeks with the struggling Kings. Coach Willie Desjardins has kept Kovalchuk on the bench for long stretches of recent games.

The Kings signed Kovalchuk to a three-year, $18.75 million contract before the season.

---

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports