Kovalchuk seals lucrative deal with SKA St Petersburg

Ilya Kovalchuk walked away from US$77 million when he retired from the New Jersey Devils and the NHL last week at 30, citing a desire to return to Russia with his family. But now, after signing a four-year contract with SKA St Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League, he has walked into a sizeable amount of money.

SKA did not disclose the terms of the deal in announcing Kovalchuk's signing. But the KHL's president, Alexander Medvedev, a former director of the club, told the Russian daily Sport-Express that Kovalchuk's earnings in four years with SKA would be "absolutely comparable" to what he would have made in four years with the Devils.

Even if Kovalchuk does not make as much in St Petersburg in raw dollar terms as he would have in the US, he will retain more of it. Taxes are far lower in Russia than they are in North America, an incentive that has in the past helped induce players like Jaromir Jagr and Alexander Radulov to jump to the KHL.

Reactions varied over the weekend. In North America, some saw the move as a defection and a betrayal. "That's why a lot of people are afraid to draft Russians - they do what they want to do, and we cater to them," said Don Cherry, a Canadian hockey commentator. "Kovalchuk is just laughing all the way to the bank."

CSKA Moscow forward Alexei Morozov, who played seven seasons in the NHL before returning to Russia in 2004, suggested that Kovalchuk's return might lead to the eventual return of other Russian stars, like Alex Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin.

"Ilya is a pioneer," Morozov said. "Before this, everyone was eager to go 'over there'. But against all odds, he came back. Now many young guys will look at this and think about it."

SKA, founded in 1946 and affiliated with the army in the Soviet period, has never won the Russian championship. But in the post-Soviet period, state energy firm Gazprom bought the club and spent lavishly. SKA's current chairman is Gennady Timchenko, listed by Forbes as the world's 62nd-richest person, with a fortune estimated at US$14.1 billion.