A report from a Russian news service has Ilya Kovalchuk close to signing with St. Petersburg of the KHL.
The report reads, “according to Sport Express information, Ilya Kovalchuk is close to signing a contract with SKA.”
Kovalchuk’s Russia-based agent Yuriy Nikolaev had told Sport Express earlier this week that it was more likely that his client would remain in the NHL, but also confirmed that he was talking to SKA St. Petersburg. Sport Express reported Sunday that Kovalchuk had a four-year, $36 million offer from SKA St. Petersburg and that the 27-year-old sniper was looking for $40 million total for the four years.
(The Russian-version of the story—as translated by Google—said of SKA’s offer “the total amount of the contract including bonuses, could be approximately $40 million.”)