After five years away from the NHL, Ilya Kovalchuck is officially returning from Russia on a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings.

The news, which debunks a previous international report suggesting the 35-year-old forward would be signing with the New York Rangers, doesn't mean Kovalchuck is already on the Kings' roster, as that cannot technically happen until the start of free agency July 1. But the Kings announced Saturday that they have agreed to terms with the former Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils forward, confirming reports from TSN's Frank Seravalli and others.

The MVP for the gold-medal-winning Olympic Athletes of Russia at Pyeongchang's 2018 Winter Games, Kovalchuk has long expressed a desire to return to the NHL. Now, on a reported $6.25-million-per-year deal that looks similar to the one Patrick Marleau signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the former No. 1 overall draft pick is set to hit the NHL ice for the first time since 2012-13, when he scored 31 points in 37 games for the Devils.

Famous -- or infamous -- for leaving his lucrative $100-million Devils contract for a job in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) during and after the NHL's 2012-13 lockout, Kovalchuck topped the 30-goal mark in each of his last two seasons playing for the KHL's SKA Saint Petersburg. Once among the NHL's elite forwards who still ranks as the seventh highest-scoring Russian in league history, he figures to offer immediate scoring depth for an already experienced Kings group moving forward.