Ilya Kovalchuk NHL Retirement: Superstar Signs Four-Year Deal With St. Petersburk SKA

Ilya Kovalchuk has officially signed a contract with St. Petersburg SKA.

According to the NY Times, the deal is for four-years. Compensation has not been disclosed.

"The desire [to come to the KHL] first appeared during the lockout," Kovalchuk said in a question-and-answer feature on the Russian site sovsport.ru, according to a translation by NHL.com/ru writer Slava Malamud. "I liked everything. Saint Petersburg has a great infrastructure, great fans, competent management. I was pleasantly surprised. And when I came back to America, after the season was over, I took a firm position."

The Russian sniper walked away from $77 million left on the final 12 years of his 15-year contract with the New Jersey Devils He averaged $6.67 million a year over 15 years, but received $11.3 million the next two seasons, $11.6 million in 2015-16 and $11.8 million in 2016-17. He scored 816 points in 816 career NHL games.

Kovalchuk noted during the session that he was happy to have had the chance to play in the NHL.

"I am very happy to have played in the strongest league in the world for so long," he said. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to win the Stanley Cup. I was close to this last year and saw how difficult it is to play in the NHL Playoffs. But there are no regrets. I am making a step forward in my career, opening a new page. I have a new goal and new opportunities... I am sure I have made the right decision."

Kovalchuk cannot return to the NHL until after his 35^th birthday. If he chooses to do so at that point, he would be able to play for any team of his choosing.