Edited Feb. 19 at 12:18 a.m.
Quoting: mokumboi
Just FYI: He's nowhere near as tank-ish as his pops, who was both much heftier and a fair bit faster. And I'd say you're puffing up his CV a little bit, as well. We'll see if the way he plays (his compete and willingness to go into traffic are certainly in line with dad) translates on the cozier rink with the meaner opponents. He could be helpful, but I would not go betting the farm on it.
Larionov was only Torpedo's coach since 22-23, which coincides with Nik's rise to top-10 in KHL scoring. Nik has praised Igor for his unique coaching approach, willingness to buck the traditional hierarchy & put the best players in best-fit roles. Igor has embraced Nik's impending NHL transition since he signed his ELC, pumping his tires & making him Alternate Kaptain too.
The Avs misfortunes create the perfect situation for Nik to get good ice. Nuke is out for ??? Gabe might come back after the regular season. Drouin, while showing jump at times, is still a limited player and has swapped 1st line positions, in-game, with Lehkonen since 62 has returned from injury. While 2C might be a stretch, as of today the Avs still don't have a 2C, so you Never Say Never Again.
If the Avs: don't like the remaining C options, the cost to dump Joey, or really believe in Cal Ritchie, they could use an internal guy at C like Mikko. 96 has played C for both his Avs head coaches. I could realistically see a regular season game where injuries dictate Bednar experiments with Kovalenko at 2C.
Overall IMO, everything points to Kovalenko being an immediate contributor in COL & I expect he'll quickly move up the lineup like Lehkonen did two seasons ago (pushing impending UFA Burakovsky to the 3rd line come playoffs).
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