Robin Kovacs (born 16 November 1996) is a Swedish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Linköping HC Linköping Hockey Club, often known by its Acronym, initials LHC, or Colloquialism, colloquially among its fans as Cluben, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Linköping, founded in 1976. The home arena of the team is Saab Arena (for ...

of the

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

(SHL). He was drafted 62nd overall by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

He made his

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

debut playing with AIK during the

2012–13 Elitserien season The 2012–13 Elitserien season was the 38th season of Elitserien. The regular season began on 13 September 2012 and ended on 5 March 2013. The playoffs began on 12 March 2013 and ended on 18 April 2013. The 2012–13 Elitserien season was the las ...

. Kovacs, who is of Hungarian descent, was seen as one of the top twenty international skaters for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft according to the

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League (NHL) that ranks prospects for the NHL entry draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate t ...

. Kovacs played in four games with

Rögle BK Rögle BK (Rögle Bandyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Ängelholm that has been playing in the SHL since the 2015–16 season. Rögle has previously played in the SHL (previously named Elitserien) in 1992–1996, 2008–20 ...

in the

(SHL) during the 2015–16 season. After being loaned for the majority of the campaign back with AIK, Kovacs signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the

on 18 July 2016. In his first North American season in 2016–17, Kovacs struggled to adapt offensively in playing with the Rangers

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

affiliate, the

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...

. He appeared in 72 of 76 games with the Wolf Pack, totalling just 2 goals and 12 points. Having endured a troubling off-season in Sweden (see

Personal life Personal life is the course or state of an personhood, individual's life, especially when viewed as the sum of personal choices contributing to one's personal identity. Apart from hunter-gatherers, most pre-modern peoples' time was limited by ...

), and underperforming at the Rangers' 2017 training camp, Kovacs failed to play in a pre-season game as he was amongst the first roster cuts reassigned to Hartford on 19 September 2017. On 1 October 2017, Kovacs was placed on unconditional waivers in order to terminate the remainder of his contract with the Rangers and return to Sweden. On 7 October 2017, he signed a two-year deal with

Luleå HF Luleå Hockeyförening, also known as Luleå Hockey, is a professional ice hockey club from Luleå, Sweden. The club has been playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden, since the 1984–85 season. They are ...

of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). In April 2022 he signed a tree-year contract with

Lausanne HC Lausanne Hockey Club is an ice hockey team based in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (NL). During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the HC Lausanne signed National Hockey League players Martin St. Louis and Andy Ro ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Personal life

Kovacs has a neuropsychiatric disability, with

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple ...

and

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

. He has credited the conditions for helping progress his professional career. Kovacs was found guilty and later fined for reckless driving in a fatal traffic accident involving a friend in June 2017. He and his wife, retired Swedish national team goaltender Minatsu Murase, have three children – born in October 2018, September 2020, and November 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Robin 1996 births AIK IF players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey people from Stockholm Lausanne HC players Linköping HC players Living people Luleå HF players New York Rangers draft picks People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Rögle BK players Swedish ice hockey right wingers Swedish people of Hungarian descent