The Washington Capitals franchise has been rocked. They will miss the playoffs. Changes will come from up top as far as coaching goes. Maybe general manger or GMBM gets one more chance? But with the awkwardness of a player that doesn’t want to be here, now the Caps have to trade Evgeny Kuznetsov this summer. They have no choice.
Here’s what Russian news outlet Match TV said, translated to 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."
"The Caps’ decision-makers are disappointed in Kuznetsov’s season. They desperately needed him to step forward and he did not. He turns 31 in May, counts $7.8 million against the salary cap for two seasons after this one, scored no goals in October and one in January, and struggled defensively all year… I don’t know where things go from here. But something’s got to give."
My friend Tarik is right. Something’s got to give. And like I said in the final sentence of my lede, they have no choice.
Although he has just 53 points this season, he did have 78 the previous year and there are still teams that will show interest. Though a cap hit of $7.8 million is not cheap.
The biggest pro in losing Kuznetsov is the cap return. But the player return remains to be seen. Kuzy will be tough to replace whether he had a good season this year or not. And he didn’t.