Ex-Capitals star reportedly heading back to Russian KHL

The Kontinental Hockey League is becoming a more viable option for NHLers unhappy with their situation, and that’s exactly where former Washington Capitals star Evgeny Kuznetsov is heading.

According to Arina Nuriakhmetova of Russian news outlet championat.com, Kuznetsov plans to terminate his NHL deal and sign a four-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg.

He has one year left on his current NHL contract with the Carolina Hurricanes that would pay him $7.8 million through the 2024-25 season.

Kuznetsov is just the latest player to bolt to the KHL this offseason. San Jose Sharks forward Egor Afanasyev and former Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Wade Allison also did so in the last few weeks.

No stranger to the KHL having played five seasons in the league with Traktor Chelyabinsk from 2009 to 2013, Kuznetsov scored 65 goals and 146 points in 210 regular season games plus 13 goals and 21 points in 41 playoff games.

He joined the Capitals at the end of the 2013-14 season. Now 32 years old, the center has been one of Washington’s top scorers of the last decade, helping lead the team to a Stanley Cup championship in 2018. But his career suffered a setback this season.

He began the season with a bad relationship with the Capitals front office, and he was nearly traded to the Nashville Predators last July for center Matt Duchene before the deal fell apart last minute.

Kuznetsov scored just six goals and 17 points in 43 games with the Caps last season before entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in February. He was traded to the Hurricanes a month later.

It wasn’t the first time Kuznetsov struggled with off-ice issues. He tested positive for cocaine during the 2019 IIHF World Championship and was banned from playing for the Russian national team for four years. Subsequently, the NHL suspended him without pay for three games that season.