Konstantin Koltsov, a former first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins died Monday. He was 42.
Selected with the No. 18 pick in the 1999 NHL Draft, Koltsov played 144 NHL games with the Penguins from 2003-06 and had 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists). He played all 82 games with Pittsburgh in 2003-04.
Koltsov was teammates with Mario Lemieux for all three of his seasons, and teammates with current Penguins captain Sidney Crosby during the latter's rookie season in 2005-06.
"He could fly," Crosby said Tuesday of the forward. "He was a powerful skater, a really strong guy and a great guy to be around. That first year, we didn’t have the best team but we had a great group and he was part of that so obviously condolences go to his family and it’s sad news."
Koltsov also played for Belarus at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, where it finished fourth, and at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
After playing his final game for the Penguins in 2006, he played 10 seasons in the Russian Super League and Kontinental Hockey League for Salavat Yulaev Ufa, Atlant Mytishchi, Ak Bars Kazan and Dinamo Minsk before retiring in 2016.
Koltsov was working as a coach for Salavat Yulaev, whom he helped win their first championship in 2008.
"He was a strong and cheerful person, he was loved and respected by players, colleagues, fans," the team said in a statement. "Konstantin Evgenievich (has) forever written himself in the history of our club."
