NHLPA PLAYER BIO

Ilya Kovalchuk was drafted first overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. He was the first Russian drafted first overall in the NHL draft. That year, he signed with the team on Aug. 14 and then made the team out of training camp. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 4 against the Sabers and was the game�s second star in the 2-1 win. Two nights later, he scored his first goal (against Byron Dafoe) in a 4-3 loss to the Bruins. In December, he co-won NHL Rookie of the Month honours with teammate Dany Heatley and won Thrashers� Player of the Month honours. In January, he won NHL Rookie of the Month honours on his own. On Jan. 19, he and teammate Pascal Rh�aume became the first Thrashers to score five points in a game. Kovalchuk had four assists on the night, also a team first. At the mid-season All-Star weekend, Ilya played in the YoungStars Game and collected MVP honours. In the second half of the season, Ilya continued his attack on goal until he suffered an injury on Mar. 10. He finished the season with a team rookie-record 29 goals. His 51 points would finish second behind rookie teammate Dany Heatley for the team lead. He and Heatley shared the Thrashers� Player of the Year honours while Ilya finished second behind Heatley in voting for the Calder Trophy.

In 2002-03, Ilya finished second on the Thrashers with 38 goals and third with 67 points. The team improved 20 points in the standings and won a team-record 31 games. On January 25, Ilya scored the 57th goal of his career to pass Ray Ferraro for the Thrashers� all-time goal-scoring record. Ilya finished the year tied with Heatley with 67 career goals.

In 2003-04, Ilya co-won the Maurice Richard Trophy for goal-scoring with Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash. Ilya�s 41 goals tied the club record established by Heatley one year earlier. Ilya also finished second in the Art Ross Trophy scoring race with 87 points, seven points back of winner Martin St-Louis and two points back of Heatley�s club record. The Thrashers, meanwhile, set a club record with 33 wins. On Dec. 6, Ilya scored his first career hat trick. In February, he scored a goal in the mid-season All-Star Game.