Nikolai Kovalenko

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Nikolai Andreyevich Kovalenko (Russian: Николай Андреевич Коваленко; born October 17, 1999) is a Russian and American professional ice hockey right wing for HC CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was selected in the sixth round, 171st overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2018 NHL entry draft. He is the son of former NHL player Andrei Kovalenko. Kovalenko was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the beginning of the 1999–2000 season, in which his father, Andrei Kovalenko, was playing with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. Kovalenko returned to Russia as a two-year-old following the conclusion of Andrei's nine-year career in the NHL, and lived in Yaroslavl. Kovalenko learned to play as a youth within the ranks of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey school, while his father played with the KHL club. Unable to play in the renowned style of his father, who was known as "The Tank", Nikolai focused on a more technical skill-based game. He made his debut in the MHL with Loko Yaroslavl during the 2015–16 season, scoring four goals and five points in four games as a 16-year-old. Showing offensive potential through Loko's second-tier junior club, Loko juniors, Kovalenko was promoted to remain for the majority of the 2016–17 season in the MHL, producing a modest 14 points in 35 games. Continuing in the MHL in the 2017–18 season, Kovalenko's improved strength was evident as he increased his offensive output with Loko, scoring 10 goals and 31 points in just 33 games and appearing in the MHL All-Star Game.