Is it worth keeping Evgeny Kuznetsov on the Washington Capitals?

Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov’s name keeps appearing in trade rumors and boards/discussions and for good reason. Last season was one of his worst after a season that we all thought was going to get his career back on track.

But is it worth trading him? Or is it worth keeping him?

Now if Peter Laviolette is still the coach the obvious answer is trading Kuznetsov because chances are he wouldn’t want to stay. But Laviolette is no longer the coach.

Enter Spencer Carbery. New kid on the block when it comes to an NHL head coach. He’s only 41 and based on what I’ve read about him so far seems like a very hands on player’s type coach. That might be exactly what Kuzy needs to stick around.

Carbery would schedule one on one meetings with players and even jump into practice drills himself. That’s exactly the type of coach the Caps need.

Kuznetsov finished with 55 points in 81 games which equated to his lowest point per game pace since his second season. His plus minus even dwindled to a minus 26. It took him a while to even score his first goal and even when he did he struggled to be consistent.

Last month his friend and hockey agent Sergei Fedotov said that Kuznetsov wasn’t instructed in staying in D.C. But at that point in time we didn’t know who the Caps coach was going to be, we just knew it wouldn’t be Laviolette.

That report was the climax of the speculation just several weeks after there was a reported trade request from Kuzy that he denied when he talked to the media.

Brian MacLellan, the Caps general manger, though said his season was a disappoint. Even if the relationship needs to end, dealing Kuzy won’t be easy. Would there be a team willing to take on his $7.8 million cap hit when his trade value isn’t even worth that right now?

But really it’s up to the center. Maybe he decides to leave anyway, maybe he give the new bench boss a chance.