The president of the KHL has confirmed that the league will aggressively pursue star winger Ilya Kovalchuk once his NHL contract expires on June 30. "Yes, yes, because it will be absolutely legal," Alexander Medvedev said during an interview with ESPN.com and The Hockey News. "It's understood with the leagues that if it's a free agent or even a restricted free agent, they could decide where to play. So Kovalchuk has the full right to decide where to play. We are going to negotiate with him and his agents what kind of agreement could be reached." Unless he signs an extension with the Devils, Kovalchuk will become an unrestricted free agent July 1.