The Washington Capitals relationship with Evgeny Kuznetsov has not gotten good over the years and Peter Laviolette’s coaching style the last couple of seasons made it worse.
Sergei Fedotov, a Russian hockey agent and longtime friend of Kuznetsov, spoke on the issue and believes it’s best for both parties to move on. He spoke on a podcast by sports.ru:
"“I’ve known Zhenya for a very long time… there are people who are quite disciplined. Zhenya’s not in this category. Right now, he doesn’t have this joy from hockey. And Kuznetsov, without a spark, he’s not interested in anything.”"
Here are 3 trade proposals for Kuzy that make more sense than last time:
#3 Kuznetsov to Carolina Hurricanes for Jesperi Kotkaniemi
This move could benefit both sides and in Jesperi Kotkaniemi the Capitals would gain a young 22 year old center with an inexpensive cap hit at $4.82 million.
This past season saw him score a career high 18 goals and 25 assists for 43 points. He can bolster the Caps offense and Kuznetsov would get the fresh start he needs. Plus he would love it in Carolina.
The only negative about this trade would be trading Kuzy within the division and we promise the next two slides won’t be division rivals.