Blues GM confirms interest in Kovalchuk

The St. Louis Blues could be looking to add another lethal Russian scorer to their lineup.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong confirmed Friday the team is interested in highly sought-after winger Ilya Kovalchuk.

"There's nothing planned yet on a visit but we certainly talked to his agent asking him to explore our situation and see if there's interest," Armstrong said, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Kovalchuk has been generating interest across the NHL since indicating in March he was eyeing a jump back across the pond.

Related: Report: Kovalchuk visits Kings, will meet with Sharks

"Always looking to improve our team," said Armstrong. "We're like all teams. He's 35 years old, there's risk involved with players of that age. But he could be Jaromir Jagr. He could start slowing down at 41. Or he could come back and hit the wall. You never know.

"But there's certainly intrigue there because he's been such a dominant player internationally and he was a helluva player when he left (the NHL)."

Kovalchuk spent the last five seasons in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg, racking up 120 goals and 165 assists in 262 regular-season games.