Washington Capitals: Evgeny Kuznetsov will be the biggest surprise of 2021

The Washington Capitals for the most part remained the same this offseason. The only change came among the defense when they traded away Brenden Dillon. Many fans wanted to see the team trade away Evgeny Kuznetsov and despite the strong rumors the Caps decided as of right now to keep Kuzy for another season. Perhaps this is his last chance to prove himself.

That’s why Kuznetsov will bounce back in 2021. It is because the team elected to give him one more chance. That belief in their center that he can regain his 2018 form is an encouraging sign. Last season he wasn’t quite 100 percent anyway as he tested positive for COVID-19 twice, was late to a team function and contributed to an early season fine.

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Kuznetsov I predict is capable of at the very least a 20 goal season. That would be a miles improvement from this previous season. Last year Kuznetsov scored nine goals and added 20 assists for 29 points in 41 games. Kuznetsov averaged 16:34 minutes of ice time and despite the low stats still managed to score 0.71 points per game. He was also reliable on the face off dot taking 74.46 percent of face offs in the offensive zone. He won 41.4 percent of those.

When the Caps entered the offseason they had several decisions to make regarding the protected list in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. They elected to protect Kuznetsov and according to General Manager Brian MacLellan, there was never even a thought on exposing him.

MacLellan said on 106.7 The Fan’s Sports Junkies:

"“I don’t think it was even a consideration to put him on the exposure list to Seattle. As far as the expansion draft, I don’t think you just let a team take that player for free. It’s hard to create depth up the middle on your team. So if you have that, you want to maintain that.”"

MacLellan also added some good takes on Kuznetsov:

"“Kuzy is a good player. He’s been a first- or second-line center for the duration of his career. He’s been productive, remarkably productive. He’s approximately 20 goals, 30-40 assists a year.”"

If Kuznetsov can score at least 20 goals and reach that 30-40 assist range like MacLellan said, you could consider the 2021-22 season a success for Kuznetsov. If Backstrom does well, it will also take some pressure off the Russian center. Combine the on ice performance with cleaning up his act off the ice and you can put the rumors of trading Kuznetsov away once and for all.