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Alexei Kovalev Aleksej Kovaliov; born February 24, 1973, in Togliatti, U.S.S.R.) (now Russia) is a Russian professional ice hockey player currently playing with the Montreal Canadiens. He plays as a right winger.

Alexei Kovalev was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, first round, 15th overall, becoming the first Russian player to be drafted in the first round. Best known for his sleek stickhandling skills, he became an important part of the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup run, finishing with the third-most points for New York in the playoffs. Kovalev, Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Sergei Zubov were the first Russians to have their name on the Stanley Cup.

During the 1994-95 NHL lockout, Alexei was playing for the team of his origin city, Lada Togliatti, the Russian Champion of 1993-94 season. Kovalev scored 8 goals (and registered 8 assists) in 12 games. Kovalev occasionally stops in Togliatti to give clinics at his old hockey school. He also participated into Lada 30th anniversary game, and scored a hat trick for the Lada veterans team.

In 1998-99, he was traded, along with Harry York, to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Petr Nedved, Sean Pronger and Chris Tamer, with only 14 games played in the season. While only putting up 46 points in 63 games with the Penguins, he managed a strong effort with 12 points in 10 postseason games. The next few seasons, he had his best years yet with 76 and 95 points.

In a trade to mainly reduce their salary mass, Pittsburgh sent Kovalev back to the Rangers. He was sent, along with Dan LaCouture, Janne Laukkanen and Mike Wilson for Mikael Samuelsson, Rico Fata, Joel Bouchard, Richard Lintner and cash.

A bit more than a year later, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Jozef Balej and a second round selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. While only managing 3 points in 12 games in the regular season, Kovalev broke out in the 2003-2004 playoffs, where he registered six goals and ten points in eleven games for Montreal.

He spent the 2004-05 NHL lockout playing for Ak Bars Kazan, in the Russian Superleague, where he registered 23 points in 35 games. Kovalev played for Russia in the 2005 World Championships in Austria, and was named the tournament's best forward. He subsequently signed a four-year contract (worth $4.5 million per year) with Montreal prior to the start of the 2005-06 NHL season, during which he scored his 300th career goal and recorded his 700th point on December 20, 2005 against Ottawa's Dominik Hasek in a 4-3 win.

Kovalev has been a licensed pilot for several years.

Kovalav is currently on the 2nd line as a Centerman along with Alexander Perezhogin and Sergei Samsonov.