Kovalchuk gave the following quote to Match.tv
«We are working on this very closely. If there is specific news, and it will be possible to resolve the issue so that Evgeny plays at the Olympics, this will be announced by the head coach or through the Federation. Everything is in progress now. Kuznetsov is one of the candidates for the national team, one of the leaders of our team. Of course we would very much like to see Evgeny in Beijing, and indeed, for him to play for the Russian national team.»
Kolvachuk continued:
«I hope that by universal forces, together with the Federation, lawyers and representatives of the NHL Players Association, we can achieve a positive result. But for now there are no specifics, yet. I don't even want to talk about chances. We are just dealing with this very important issue for us. If there is news, we'll tell you right away.»
As well as dealing with the Kuznetsov situation, Ilya Kolvachuk is also looking at potentially having to assemble a team without NHL participation.
«There are always risks. Look � in Japan, the final of the Grand Prix in figure skating was canceled. And a new strain of the virus has appeared in the world, and everyone is worried. But we are all in the same situation. We will wait until January 10, when the NHL should finally decide on its participation.»