Devils will reach out to Kovalchuk's agent to gauge interest in NHL return

Ray Shero wants to get in touch with Ilya Kovalchuk.

The New Jersey Devils general manager confirmed his intent to contact the Russian star in an interview with Sportsnet's John Shannon ahead of the draft lottery Saturday night.

"I plan to reach out next week maybe to his agent ... I'll reach out next week and see if there's any substance to the speculation of Ilya coming back," Shero said.

Last weekend, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Kovalchuk was considering a return to North America.

The former NHL superstar's KHL contract expired when his SKA St. Petersburg won the Gagarin Cup earlier this month.

The Devils still hold his rights, because he was a Devil when he left the NHL in 2013 and because he remains on the league's Voluntary Retirement list. He's free to sign with New Jersey, but if he wants to play for another team, that would require approval from every other NHL club.

He can't be traded from the Devils to another team unless he signs with New Jersey first, so a sign-and-trade would be possible, as TSN's Bob McKenzie explained earlier this week.