Andrei Markov has hired agent Allan Walsh as he looks to return to the NHL this season.

The 40-year-old defenceman told The Montreal Gazette earlier this month that he was hoping to play in the NHL this season, preferably with the Montreal Canadiens.

"He’s been intensively training in Florida this summer and is determined to play in the NHL this season," Walsh wrote of Markov on Twitter on Wednesday.

After 16 seasons in Montreal, Markov left the Canadiens two summers ago after he was unable to come to a contract agreement with the team. He returned to Russia and spent the past two seasons with the KHL's Ak Bars Kazan, posting 47 points in 104 games, winning the league's Gagarin Cup in 2018.

Markov was drafted in the sixth round (162nd overall) by Montreal at the 1998 NHL Draft. In his tenure with the club, he recorded 119 goals and 572 points in 990 games.