Alexei Kovalev got a birthday present from the win-challenged Ottawa Senators: he was traded to a former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The now 38-year-old Kovalev will try to help a club trying to weather the storm after a spate of injuries has left them without key players.
The aging Russian forward is mired in his worst season since coming into the NHL, 14 goals and 13 assists in 54 games, and there was not much of a market for him. In return the Sens got a seventh-round draft pick, a pick that can turn into a sixth rounder should the Pens make the second round of the playoff and Kovalev plays 50 percent of the first-round games.