The KHL offseason was graced by another high-profile transfer. Evgeny Kuznetsov became a new player for St. Petersburg SKA. The star striker's contract with the army team is for four years.
SKA is gathering starship troops. Is this the path to the Gagarin Cup? Head coach of St. Petersburg Roman Rotenberg, at the end of last season, argued that only targeted changes were possible in the composition of the team for the new edition. However, the army team parted ways with a whole group of players, including, for example, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Laipsic and Alexander Kadeikin. A number of changes were associated with the need to fit into the salary cap. At the same time, SKA was replenished with several star and experienced hockey players: defender Nikita Zaitsev arrived from the Chicago Blackhawks, skilled forwards Mikhail Grigorenko and Sergei Plotnikov arrived from CSKA, ex-captain of Yaroslavl Lokomotiv and Gagarin Cup winner with CSKA Sergei Andronov arrived.< br>
Now Evgeny Kuznetsov has joined them. He needs no further introduction: the titles of Stanley Cup winner, one of the most productive Russians in the NHL and the best players in the history of the Washington Capitals are enough. SKA has acquired not just a hockey player with experience of big victories, but also a unique forward who is capable of playing brightly, unusually, creatively.
On paper, his acquisition is a clear reinforcement of the St. Petersburg team, which dreams of winning the Gagarin Cup. However, the same Kuzya, who became beloved by the entire hockey world, has not been seen for the past few years. Who knows, maybe a radical change of scenery will allow him to show his best qualities and bring benefit to the new club.
«
«He needs to show himself: 'I am Kuznetsov. I am a famous hockey player.' For him, this is a challenge, a desire to show himself to the public. He must show his skills. It is his decision to leave the NHL and return to Russia. But why this is happening, I do not know,» said the president of the Russian Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak, commenting on the situation with Kuznetsov.
«I could have played in the NHL for a few more years»Kuzya himself, a product of Chelyabinsk hockey and one of the most famous graduates of the local «Traktor» school, once said that if he returned to Russia, he would like to play for his native club again. However, he sensationally ended up in SKA. It is difficult to say what benefit Kuznetsov will get from this. A player of his level in St. Petersburg will be asked much more seriously than everyone else. Considering how demanding and categorical Rotenberg is in personnel decisions, the star forward may suffer the same fate as many other SKA players if he does not live up to expectations. And Kuzya has already suffered enough of this kind of pressure in Washington.
Not only Evgeniy’s choice in favor of St. Petersburg was unexpected, but also the decision itself to leave North America ahead of schedule. Yes, the last period of his stay in Washington turned out to be unsuccessful and even sad: low performance, loss of the title of team leader, exile to the reserves, and then to the farm club, as well as an appeal to the NHL player assistance program. Even then, talk about the end of the North American campaign in Kuznetsov’s career gained great weight. But they seemed to have lost relevance after the exchange of the Russian to Carolina.
In the Hurricanes, Evgeniy got his second wind. Although he still didn't please with high results, he demonstrated good play. Even beautiful — although the coach of the «hurricanes» Rod Brind'Amour was sometimes not delighted with Kuzya's tricks, but they were useful to the team. Logically, the next season should have been the defining one in Evgeniy's NHL career. But he did otherwise, which surprised many. Including his now former classmates.
- «Yes, I was a little surprised by that. I would be happy if he stayed in Carolina and we played on the same team. That would be cool. Zhenya scored his goals in the playoffs, but he had a hard time this season: he didn't play for two months, then he got into it, and showed his results in the playoffs,» said Carolina forward Andrei Svechnikov.
- «I will accept any decision he makes and will always support him. He will do what is best for him. I think he could play in the NHL for a few more years, he has enough skill,» added Canes defenseman Dmitry Orlov.
Kuznetsov's return to Russia helped Ovechkin. But how? Under the terms of the early termination of the contract, Kuznetsov lost the money he was supposed to receive in the upcoming NHL season. The Russian's cap hit would have been the usual $7.8 million, but his actual salary would have reached eight million (excluding taxes). Of this, the Russian saw only a part: Evgeni received two million dollars on July 1 as a signing bonus. The remaining six million are gone.
Whether Kuzya will compensate for these losses in St. Petersburg is a separate topic for discussion. What is interesting is something else. The Russian, with his decision to say «Goodbye» to America, helped Washington and Carolina.
As a result of the exchange between the two clubs, the Capitals took on the retention of half of the hockey player's salary. However, now they won't have to spend precious millions on a hockey player who isn't even part of the team — the Capitals have lightened their payroll a bit. And they have certain difficulties in fitting into the cap. The Hurricanes are probably grateful to Kuznetsov, too, as they now have more funds to sign contracts with players who are truly important to the team.
Свежие комментарии