Hurricanes’ Evgeny Kuznetsov Placed on Unconditional Waivers For Purpose of Contract Termination
Evgeny Kuznetsov’s brief tenure with the Carolina Hurricanes is over, as the 32-year-old mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the club.
The Hurricanes placed Kuznetsov on unconditional waivers Wednesday, tearing up the final season of his eight-year, $62.4-million contract signed in July 2017. He was still owed $6 million of his $8 million salary for 2024-25 after receiving his $2 million signing bonus earlier this month.
The move saves Carolina $3.9 million against next season’s salary cap, with 50 percent of Kuznetsov’s $7.8-million cap hit retained by the Washington Capitals as part of last March’s trade.
Kuznetsov is expected to return home to Russia following his departure from the NHL, clearing the way for him to sign with the KHL’s SKA Saint Petersburg, a team he was linked to by multiple reports earlier this week.
After making his NHL debut in 2014, the 6-foot-2 centre went on to play 743 career games – the majority with Washington – scoring 173 goals and 575 points. He spent 20 regular season games with Carolina a season ago, notching two goals and seven points.
“Ultimately both sides agreed this was the best course of action for both the player and the team,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “We thank Evgeny for his time with the team and wish him and his family the best.”
Consistency, or a lack thereof, played a pivotal role in ending Kuznetsov’s tumultuous relationship with the Capitals. Despite being a Conn Smythe runner-up during the franchise’s Stanley Cup run in 2018, his on-ice production slipped considerably in the years after.
The 26th-overall selection in 2010, a former four-time 20-goal scorer, tallied just 12 goals and 55 points in 81 games during his final full season in Washington, registering the second-lowest points-per-game clip of his career since 2015-16, ahead of only last season’s 0.38 figure.
Kuznetsov also struggled to stay out of trouble off the ice. He was suspended by the NHL for three games in September 2019 for “inappropriate conduct” while also receiving a four-year ban from representing Team Russia due to a positive test for cocaine less than a month earlier.
Last February, the left-handed forward entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program before being cleared to rejoin the team in March. Shortly after, the Capitals placed him on waivers and ultimately assigned him to the AHL.
Washington found Kuznetsov a new home via trade before he played a single game with the Hershey Bears, as Carolina agreed to send a 2025 third-round pick in exchange for the Russian centre.
After finishing the regular season with the Hurricanes, Kuznetsov ultimately transitioned into a part-time role during the playoffs, becoming a healthy scratch in their second-round matchup versus the New York Rangers. In 10 post-season games, he recorded four goals and six points.
Tulsky appears to have already put the cap savings from Kuznetsov’s contract termination to good use, reportedly avoiding arbitration with centre Jack Drury via a two-year, $3.45-million extension ($1.725-million AAV) on Wednesday.
Following Drury’s reported signing, Carolina features roughly $13.8 million in cap space for next season per PuckPedia, needing to sign RFA forwards Martin Necas (arbitration rights) and Seth Jarvis.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.