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He became the face of the franchise when selected first overall in 2001.
Yet for all his offensive ability, Ilya Kovalchuk has only managed to lead the Atlanta Thrashers into the playoffs on one occasion.
And despite having another outstanding season with 36 goals and 42 assists heading into last night's game against the Oilers, the Thrashers won't be playing post-season hockey again this year.
"It's been a tough year, but it seems like the whole team is playing better in the last 30 games," Kovalchuk said before the game.
"We have a lot of young players and for us to win, we have to play hard. But they are starting to build their confidence. We are trying to build something for next year and we want to play well right from the start of the season."
Despite sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and well out of a playoff spot, the Thrashers have not rolled over and played dead.
They went into last night's game having won three straight and four of their previous five.
Kovalchuk, 25, is in large part responsible for the Thrashers' good form of late. The native of Tver, Russia, has 15 points in his last seven games, which included a five-point night two weeks ago against Carolina. However, he left last night's game in the first period with an injury.
"He's been hounding the puck, he wants the puck more," said Thrashers coach John Anderson. "When Ilya is around it and has it, he brings people to their feet. But when he's standing around and not going to it, he becomes just like anybody else out there. When he's hounding the puck, you can see a huge difference for him."
Blessed with great speed, hands and an ability to be in the right place at the right time, Kovalchuk had developed into a true star.
"I equate it to him playing on a three-level chess board and we're playing checkers," Anderson said. "He thinks the game differently. If you watch (Wayne) Gretzky and (Mario) Lemieux, they were kind of all over the place too, but they'd show up when the puck was there."
A two-time 50-goal scorer, Kovalchuk has one year left on his contract with the Thrashers before becoming a UFA.
With the team currently going through some ownership issues, he was rumoured to be on the move prior to the trading deadline. Unless he signs an extension this summer, those rumours will likely persist all of next year.
"I talked to (GM) Don (Waddell) and he told me that I was going to stay here," Kovalchuk said. "Those rumours are more for guys like you in the media to talk about and stuff. I like everything about Atlanta. Both me and my family love it there. My daughter started going to school and she loves it.
"We'll see what we're going to do in the summer."
In order for Kovalchuk to stay, the Thrashers will have to work on putting a competitive team around him.
Apart from the one season when they finished first in their division, yet still lost in the first round of the playoffs, the Thrashers have consistently been doormats.
"Everybody knows we're having a little bit of trouble with our ownership," Kovalchuk said. "Hopefully they'll get it all worked out and we can start building a good team. If you look at our fans when we play well, the building is full. If we don't start to take steps forward then the fans are going to be upset.
"I really believe we have enough talent to build a good team. We have a have a couple of good, young prospects; we're going to be able to draft high and our goalie is playing really well right now. I think we'll be able to make a couple of changes this summer and we'll be able to have a good team next year."
DEREK.VANDIEST@SUNMEDIA.CA