In recent months, there has been speculation that Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov had asked for a change of scenery. Yesterday, in an article on their team site from Mike Vogel, they confirmed that the middleman did indeed request to be traded.
The 31-year-old had one of his best offensive seasons in 2021-22, picking up 24 goals and 54 assists in 79 games. However, Kuznetsov wasn’t able to build on that last season as his goal total was cut in half while he still managed 43 helpers. A report out of Russia last month suggested that the relationship with the team wasn’t past the point of no return but that he was seeking more offensive freedom; it’s possible that new head coach Spencer Carbery could give him that freedom.
In his piece, Vogel notes that Washington typically tries to accommodate trade requests and that GM Brian MacLellan was looking to make a move that would make his top-six group a little younger in the process. Clearly, that didn’t come to fruition with Kuznetsov still being a member of the Capitals.
The struggles last season certainly didn’t help his trade value and neither does his contract. Kuznetsov still has two years left on his contract, one that carries an AAV of $7.8MM. As we’ve seen in recent weeks, moving expensive contracts has been difficult enough on its own let alone extracting full value. Look no further than Nashville’s trade of Ryan Johansen to Colorado, one that saw them hold back $4MM per season for two years for what amounted to no return. For a Washington team that still intends to compete next season, that type of move isn’t exactly palatable considering Kuznetsov is still their most reliable middleman (with Dylan Strome and Nicklas Backstrom also in the mix).
MacLellan acknowledged that he took an “aggressive” approach when it came to trying to find a trade fit for Kuznetsov but he hasn’t had success in terms of finding a swap that both sides are happy with. He added that some players they were pursuing haven’t been moved yet so speculatively, Kuznetsov could be a part of one of those swaps. Otherwise, he’ll at least need to start next season with Washington where a strong start in Carbery’s new system could help boost his value to the point where his value goes up and a trade can be reached if he still wants to be moved at that time.
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