Kovalev Gets Two-year Contract Worth $8.85 Million Tuesday August 14, 2001 11:08 PM PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Alexei Kovalev won his arbitration hearing Tuesday and was awarded a two-year, $8.85 million contract. The 28-year-old Kovalev had career-bests of 44 goals and 51 assists last season. Kovalev will receive $4.25 million next season and $4.6 million the following season. The contract is nearly double the $2.3 million Kovalev received last season when he finished fourth in the league in scoring. Kovalev's hearing was the fourth arbitration case for the Penguins, following winger Martin Straka and centers Robert Lang and Jan Hrdina. All three received substantial raises. Pittsburgh's final arbitration hearing is scheduled for Wednesday with defenseman Darius Kasparaitis.
