PITTSBURGH – Pass out ballots to the Pittsburgh Penguins and ask them to choose the team MVP so far, and the voting probably would be one-sided and perhaps even unanimous.

	Alexei Kovalev is older, wiser and on pace for a career year.

No, not Mario Lemieux, if only because he hasn't played enough games yet.

No, not Jaromir Jagr, if only because he isn't scoring like he has before, and his leadership skills came into question earlier this season.

Rather, the vote probably would go to Alexei Kovalev, who until this season was seen mostly as a classic underachiever, a player whose production never equaled his vast potential.

Yes, Alexei Kovalev.

A player who has long frustrated his coaches because of his apparent reluctance to use all the skills at his disposal, Kovalev is having the kind of season for the Penguins that has long been projected for him. Namely, an All-Star season.

With 34 games, or about 40 percent of the season remaining going into Wednesday's game against Montreal, Kovalev already matched his career high of 26 goals set last season. With 54 points, he is closing in on his personal high of 66 points, also set a year ago.

Obviously, this isn't the player that the New York Rangers gave up on in 1998 after five mostly subpar seasons, trading him to the Penguins in a five-player deal.

"I'm 27 now, and it was time for me to become a better player," said Kovalev, who will join Lemieux and Jagr in Denver for the NHL All-Star game on Feb. 4. "I was sick of hearing how I should be doing this or should be doing that. I'm trying to be the player I've always wanted to be.

"I've always known I could be a lot better than I was last year. I know I can be a lot better than I am this year."

That surprises coach Ivan Hlinka, who said, "He's scored a lot of goals but, with him, it's not only about the goals. He's played well all season."

And not just the pre-Lemieux portion of the season, either.

They play together only on the power play, yet Lemieux's comeback seemingly has boosted Kovalev's production, rather than cutting into it. One reason might be that Penguins opponents cannot afford to put offense-slowing checking lines out against both the Lemieux-Jagr line and the productive Robert Lang-Martin Straka-Kovalev line, and the Lemieux line usually draws the top defensive pairing.

	“	It's never been about the money or my contract or anything like that to me. I've wanted to be an All-Star my whole career. Once you start playing with the best, you want to stay there.”
		— Alexei Kovalev

Kovalev, for example, had consecutive two-goal games against Anaheim and Phoenix last week and he has eight goals and seven assists in the dozen games since Lemieux returned. Among them, Lemieux (11), Jagr (8) and Kovalev (8) have a remarkable 27 goals in that 12-game span.

"I wasn't worried that Mario coming back would hurt me," Kovalev said. "We just got the player who could help us win the Stanley Cup. It's the best thing for all of us."

The best thing for Kovalev probably was to leave New York, where he never had more than 24 goals in five-plus seasons. General manager Neil Smith once wondered out loud if Kovalev even wanted to score.

That question has been answered in Pittsburgh, where Kovalev has 72 goals in slightly more than two full seasons – and, finally, the recognition that goes with being an All-Star.

"It's what I've wanted for a long time," Kovalev said. "It's a big thing for me. I want to be in the game with all the best players, because that means I'm one of the best players, too."

Coincidence or not, Kovalev's best season is coming in a contract year. If he can maintain his production the rest of the season, he figures to earn much more than his current $2.3 million salary next season.

"It's never been about the money or my contract or anything like that to me," Kovalev said. "I've wanted to be an All-Star my whole career. Once you start playing with the best, you want to stay there.

"It was important for me to be an All-Star. It's like anything else, the Olympics or winning the Stanley Cup, you get a lot of confidence when you play with the best players. It means people think of you as one of the best players in the league."