Ilya Valeryevich Kovalchuk (Russian: Илья Валерьевич Ковальчук; born April 15, 1983) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and team captain of the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted first overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Thrashers, he began his NHL career in 2001–02 and was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as league rookie-of-the-year. He won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's leading goal-scorer in 2004 in a three-way tie with Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash and is a three-time NHL All-Star.

Internationally, Kovalchuk has played for Russia in the IIHF World U18 Championships, World Junior Championships, World Championships, World Cup and Winter Olympics, highlighted by back-to-back gold medals in the 2008 and 2009 World Championships.

Kovalchuk played for Russian Super League club HC Spartak Moscow for two seasons before entering the NHL. Drafted by the Thrashers first overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, he became the first Russian to be drafted first overall in the NHL's history. In club-level competition, Kovalchuk wore the number 17 as a tribute to Valeri Kharlamov, a Soviet superstar in the 1970s (Kovalchuk, however, wears 71 in international play).