Alex Kovalev is a rare and wondrous talent, a guy whose game is a hybrid of speed, power and creativity.

And who can't find a job in the NHL.

Not for the kind of salary he believes his skills merit, anyway.

Kovalev, who finished the 2003-04 season with Montreal, became an unrestricted free agent July 1 but still has not received an offer he deems worthy of serious consideration. Or many that aren't, for that matter.

"Nobody has really said anything," Kovalev said. "I talked to my agent [Scott Greenspun] the other day and he said everything is quiet. I guess everybody is just focused on what's going to happen [with the collective bargaining agreement talks]."

For much of last season, Kovalev, who had his most productive years in Pittsburgh, appeared to be high on the Penguins' wish list for this summer, but bringing him back doesn't look like a priority anymore. Indeed, Kovalev told le Journal de Montreal recently that he doesn't expect the Penguins to compete for his services.

The Canadiens are believed to have offered Kovalev a contract worth about $4.2 million annually; that's well above what the Penguins likely would be willing to pay him, albeit less than Kovalev seems to feel he will get eventually.

Whether Montreal will sweeten its proposal -- or whether another club will make a serious run at Kovalev once a new CBA is in place -- remains to be seen. But while Kovalev has no way of knowing now where he'll be playing when the NHL returns, he isn't concerned about being out of work.

"One thing I know is that someday I'm still going to play for somebody," he said. "I know I'm not going to lose my job. I'm still going to play somewhere. Why should I be worried?"

Instead of focusing on that, Kovalev has turned his attention to more pressing matters. Like how his team, Russia, will fare in the World Cup of Hockey.

Russia opened the round-robin portion of the tournament with a game against the United States last night in St. Paul, Minnesota. Internal strife has caused more problems for the Russians than any opponent could -- players such as Alexei Zhamnov and Sergei Fedorov skipped the tournament because of disagreements with team management -- but talented forwards such as Kovalev, Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk still make them a dangerous opponent.

Kovalev is a veteran of these competitions -- he made his international debut at age 14 and is in his ninth major tournament since 1990 -- and cites winning a gold medal as a member of the Unified Team, a squad consisting of pieces of the former Soviet Union, at the 1992 Albertville Olympics as his personal highlight.

"That was the most exciting tournament," he said.

Odds are that he won't feel that way about this event -- Russia lacks the goaltending and defense corps to make a realistic bid for the championship -- but Kovalev has an obvious fondness for tournaments like the World Cup. Because of the caliber of players involved, skill is a treasured commodity.

"It's very exciting for us, and also for the fans," he said. "When you see so many star players at the same time, it's very exciting for fans. You don't have many chances like that.

"Sometimes you have to wait 15 or 20 games to see that many stars on the ice at the same time. Now, they have a chance every game, pretty much."

When anyone will have an opportunity to watch Kovalev after the World Cup is impossible to predict. Unlike many European players, he has no immediate plans to seek work on the far side of the Atlantic.

Fact is, barring a change of heart, he probably will be content to sit out the 2004-05 season if the NHL is idled by a work stoppage.

"I'm thinking about taking a year off," he said. "Just heal and take care of my injuries. I'm still going to skate somewhere, find ice. Maybe I'll go to Russia for a month or so and skate there. For now, I don't think I'm playing anywhere."

Kovalev said he has no pressing health problems but is feeling the effects of playing the game at its highest levels for well over a decade.

"You know what your injuries are," he said. "You know that you've had both shoulders separated, that you've had three knee surgeries. It's not like it's bothering you or anything. You just know that your body's been injured."

Just as he's certain that, once the NHL's labor issues are worked out, there will be a job for him. Somewhere. For a lot of money.

NOTES -- The Penguins re-signed winger Tomas Surovy, who split last season between the NHL and their minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre, to a multiyear contract and signed free-agent defenseman Chris Kelleher to a three-year deal. Kelleher, the Penguins' fifth-round draft choice in 1993, had five goals and 16 assists in 47 games with the Krefeld Penguins in Germany last season. He figures to end up in Wilkes-Barre but will draw a $450,000 salary if he gets to the NHL.