Atlanta, GA (My Sportsbook) - After going the first half of the season without a team captain, the Atlanta Thrashers elevated Ilya Kovalchuk to the role on Monday.

Kovalchuk becomes the seventh captain in team history after serving as an alternate over the past two seasons. Atlanta had been using five alternate captains over the campaign's first 43 games, with Kovalchuk, Colby Armstrong, Niclas Havelid, Slava Kozlov and Mathieu Schneider all serving in that capacity.

However, Kovalchuk will be just the fifth Russian-born and trained player in NHL history to become a team captain, joining a list that includes Alexei Zhamnov, Pavel Bure, Alexei Yashin and Alexander Mogilny.

"Ilya has earned the opportunity to take a larger leadership role on this team and has grown into this position over his six-plus seasons as a member of the Thrashers," said executive vice president Don Waddell. "We're very pleased, and excited for Ilya, that his fellow alternate captains approached us and felt he should be given the responsibility at this time. We're confident that he'll embrace it and represent the organization and his teammates appropriately."

The 25-year-old Kovalchuk has 15 goals and 27 assists in 42 games this season and is the Thrashers' all-time franchise leader in games played (508), points (508), goals (269) and assists (239). He shared the Maurice "Rocket" Richard trophy as the league's top goal scorer with 41 in 2003-04.

Bobby Holik served as Atlanta's captain last season.