NHL

Devils fret as Ilya’s ta-King his time

The Devils were left to fret that Newark might somehow pale in comparison to palm trees and Hollywood, but it appears Ilya Kovalchuk has not yet shut the door on New Jersey and that there was no deal done with Kings at all.

Kovalchuk spent yesterday being wooed in Los Angeles by the Kings, who were making their third bid for the superstar unrestricted free agent after dropping out twice previously.

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello gave his familiar response that nothing had changed in New Jersey’s pursuit of Kovalchuk. He then declined comment when asked if he believes Kovalchuk wants to stay in New Jersey.

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The Kings were believed to have offered $64 million over 12 years last week, and the Devils, The Post learned, improved their bid from $60 million over seven years to $100 million over 17. It was unknown if the Kings improved their offer yesterday or just were bragging about California.

One alternative for Kovalchuk is to sign somewhere for one year to sample a team and town and then go through this saga again next summer.

New Devils coach John MacLean said he had not attempted to talk to Kovalchuk, though such a free-agent winger might like to know the hockey philosophy and offensive strategy he would play under.

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After the first workouts of rookie camp yesterday, Lamoriello said “I’d be disappointed if two or three of this group weren’t on our starting roster.” Among the top candidates are defensemen Matt Corrente, Alexander Urbom and Tyler Eckford and forwards Jacob Josefson, Adam Henrique, Nick Palmieri and Mattias Tedenby.

Right wing Darcy Zajac, brother of Travis, signed a minor league deal and is in rookie camp, after getting driven from Winnipeg by his big bro, who is working out with Devils trainers.

mark.everson@nypost.com