Atlanta head coach and GM, Don Waddell: "The thing about Ilya is he desperately wants to win. I think people have misinterpreted that and see him as a selfish player. He wants to score goals, he wants to win and he wants the players to feed off his passion. Every year, he's been here he has matured. A couple of years ago, all he did was shoot. He is doing so much more right now. He is playing all aspects. Honestly, I think he is the best offensive talent in the League right now."
Atlanta teammate Slava Kozlov: "He's doing everything he should do. Right now, he's understanding his role on the team, and with the letter ‘A' [alternate captain], he's more responsible. From my perspective, he's going to be the next captain for this team."
Washington forward Alex Ovechkin: "For me, he's the greatest. If I had to choose one guy to be on my team, I'd take Ilya. He's a great guy and an unbelievable player."
Atlanta teammate Mark Recchi: "I've never played with anyone who shoots the puck like that. Mario (Lemieux) was a great shooter, but he was a left-hand shot. (Kovalchuk's) wrist shot is just so scary. (John) LeClair had a great slapshot and (Eric) Lindros was great, too, but (Kovalchuk) is the best because of how hard and how quick he shoots."
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