Capitals Rumors: Evgeny Kuznetsov requested trade

We are just moments away from the Washington Capitals taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins with puck drop at 8 p.m. on ABC and ESPN plus. Rumor has it Evgeny Kuznetsov requested a trade and did so two years ago.

He probably wants out because he’s been reading too much of our bad articles about him. Ones like this one, this one, or this one.

Per Russian news outlet Match TV, Kuzy requested a trade through his agent in a published article on Saturday, translated in English via Google Translate:

As it became known to Match TV, Washington forward Evgeny Kuznetsov wants to leave the club of his own free will.On Friday, the North American media reported that Washington could trade Kuznetsov in the offseason. However, as it became known to Match TV, Kuznetsov himself has been asking the Capitals for an exchange for the second year through his agent. Previously, the capital club was not ready for this.

There has been a bit of drama from Kuznetsov and the Capitals. Not necessarily with his teammates as the Russian guys are good friends. More so between the center and team brass.

The Caps explored the idea of trading him in the 2021 offseason but ultimately decided not to pull the trigger. This after he “irritated some members of the Caps organization.”

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet added that the team was “running out of patience with him.” This after him and then goaltender Ilya Samsonov were late to a team function and Kuzy then placed in COVID protocol. That cost him the start of the playoffs.

Kuznetsov’s numbers dipped this season. While he did have his share of good games there was other times where he was hard to notice on the ice. This season Kuznetsov has 12 goals and 40 assists for 52 points in 72 games. Last year he finished with 24 goals.