As per Pierre LeBrun : “Pending trading call, Evgeny Kuznetsov is being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2025 third-round pick. Washington is retaining 50 percent on Kuznetsov (one more year next season at a $7.8 M AAV).” Emily Kaplan of ESPN writes, “Even though Caps explored change of scenery trade for a while, am told this is first time Canes entered convo. Carolina views him as high-end top 6 player if it works out. They’re going all-in this year.”
Kuznetsov’s contract currently has two years left, sitting at $7.8 million AAV, meaning Washington is retaining half of the contract for the rest of this season and the next season. Kuznetsov has registered 24 points in 43 games this season and was recently sent to waivers due to poor performance, to assign him to the Capitals AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
A week ago, Kuznetsov was in the NHL and part of the Player Assistance program. He returned and was hoping to play with the Washington Capitals. The Capitals and Kuznetsov were not on the same page and he was placed on waivers.
Can Kuznetsov Re-Write His NHL Story with the Hurricanes?
It will be interesting to see if he can rebound and re-write the story of his career. There might be some risk for the Hurricanes to bring him into the locker room considering the trouble he’s had the past couple of seasons, but the Hurricanes have Rod Brind’Amour as coach and a veteran locker room that includes Brent Burns and other players that will expect a certain work ethic.
After buying into the Guentzel sweepstakes yesterday, the Hurricanes seem to be going all in on buying a core strong enough to secure success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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