ilya kovalchuk and girlfriend are

Ilya Kovalchuk and girlfriend are parents

Ilya Kovalchuk's girlfriend Nicole and him are proud parents of a baby

girl Carolina. Maybe now he can go back and be focused on signing with

the Atlanta Thrashers

Kovalchuk tied Columbus' Rick Nash for the NHL lead with 41 goals

in the last season before the lockout. He also had 46 assists,

finishing 32 points ahead of Atlanta's second-highest scorer.

His girlfriend delivered a girl this past weekend, according to

Waddell, and the player is scheduled to fly in Tuesday or Wednesday

to spend a week with his child. During that time, Waddell wants to

meet with the player.

"It wouldn't be so much to hammer out a deal," Waddell said. "I

want to explain to him where we're headed as a franchise. I know he

wants to play for a winning team. I think we've made good changes

to do that. I'd like to sit down and talk with him if possible."

Kovalchuk's agent, Jay Grossman, did not immediately return a

telephone message.

The Thrashers, who have never made the playoffs, took advantage of

league's new salary cap to bring in plenty of help for Kovalchuk up

front. Bobby Holik and Peter Bondra were signed as free agents, and

Marian Hossa was acquired from Ottawa in a deal for Dany Heatley.

The team also expects to be much better defensively with newcomers

Jaroslav Modry, Niclas Havelid, Tomas Kloucek and former

first-round pick Braydon Coburn. In addition, top goaltending

prospect Kari Lehtonen is set to take over in the nets, backed up

by Mike Dunham.

Waddell said the Thrashers are willing to give Kovalchuk a slightly

better deal than the one Nash got from the Blue Jackets: five years

at $27 million.

"It's all about the money," Waddell said. "We've also discussed the

length of the deal, talked about different options."

posted by Jordon Cooper at 10:10 PM

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