WASHINGTON — Longtime Washington Capitals middle Evgeny Kuznetsov cleared waivers Sunday after not being claimed by any of the NHL’s different 31 groups and has been assigned to Hershey of the American Hockey League.
The Capitals put Kuznetsov on waivers Saturday, hours after he was cleared to observe by directors for the NHL/NHLPA participant help program. It is unclear if Kuznetsov will report back to the AHL-leading Bears.
“Simply really feel for him as an individual and hope the result of that is simply the very best for him and his household,” coach Spencer Carbery mentioned earlier than his workforce’s 5-2 loss to Arizona on Sunday. “That is what I am longing for.”
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Kuznetsov has one yr left on his contract at a cap hit of $7.8 million and $8 million in precise cash owed. That and his inconsistent play factored into Washington placing Kuznetsov on waivers and him going unclaimed.
Carbery talked to the remainder of his gamers about Kuznetsov happening waivers, a nod to a participant who has been an enormous a part of Washington’s core for greater than a decade.
“Somebody that is been within the group a very long time, and quite a lot of guys in our room or among the guys in our room have been with him for all 11 years,” Carbery mentioned. “I felt like I owed him that.”
It seems unlikely Kuznetsov, Washington’s main scorer on its Stanley Cup run in 2018, performs one other recreation for the workforce that drafted him within the first spherical 14 years in the past. His tumultuous tenure with the Capitals has included irritating ups and downs, most not too long ago simply 17 factors in 43 video games this season earlier than going into this system final month.
The Capitals waived Kuznetsov at their earliest alternative following his progress in this system, lengthy after a number of years of commerce talks went nowhere.
“We have had historical past collectively, and a chance for him to have a contemporary begin, I feel, is the principle theme of what we’re making an attempt to perform,” normal supervisor Brian MacLellan mentioned Saturday. “It is simply a chance for our aspect, too, to begin contemporary and attempt to get him a chance to proceed his profession.”