Kuznetsov's name begins to surface in trade talks

A surprising development out of D.C.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Kuznetsov's name begins to surface in trade talks
Zuma Press

Washington Capitals center Evgeni Kuznetsov has seen his point production drop off over the past season and a half, leading to speculation that the team could look to expose him in the upcoming 2021 NHL Expansion Draft over teammate T.J. Oshie. Now, of course, this is mostly just fan speculation because in my mind there's absolutely no way that the Capitals would leave Kuznetsov, a 28 year old with the ability to put up 80+ points a season, completely exposed to the Seattle Kraken.

No, a much more likely scenario for Kuznetsov is that the team will will trade him if in fact they elect to protect Oshie in the expansion draft. In fact, Capitals insider JJ Regan address that exact scenario in his most recent mailbag blog for NBC Sports Washington. Regan doesn't believe that the team would look to trade Kuznetsov and his $7.8 million cap hit this season, but an offseason deal could be an option for the club.

From Regan's most recent column for NBC Sports Washington:

If you trade away Kuznetsov during the season for anything other than a top-line center, you are punting on this season. Period. Full stop.
Whether the team considers a move like this after the season will largely be dependent on the direction the franchise wants to go. If MacLellan still believes Washington has another kick at the can, then no, I don't think Kuznetsov gets traded. If it's a fire sale for a rebuild, then yes.
As for Kuznetsov, if the team was ready to move on from him, the expansion draft would not be the best way to go. He is a 28-year-old, top-line center signed through the 2024-25 season so he would provide some cost control. There's value in that, enough value that exploring a trade for him would be the much wiser decision rather than exposing him to Seattle and potentially losing him for nothing.

I've got to say, if it comes down to Kuznetsov vs Oshie, you take Kuznetsov all day long... and I'm a big fan of Oshie. But the fact of the matter is that Kuznetsov is 28 years old and Oshie is 34. Oshie is signed for four more seasons at $5.75 million and is likely to see his production fall off a cliff before his contract ends. Kuznetsov though, sure he's a bigger ticket at $7.8 million but he's less likely to regress in terms of production and can still deliver value on his contract. 

Thoughts, Caps fans?

Source: JJ Regan