Whenever Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov gets in front of a microphone you know it’s going to be a good time. That was no different on Thursday as the talented Russian met with the media for the first time this season at Training Camp.
Kuzy touched on a variety of topics, including Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of the all-time goals record, the team’s offseason additions, and music in the locker room.
As Alex Ovechkin gets nearer and nearer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record, Kuznetsov knows that questions about the chase will keep coming. When asked if Ovi can hit 50 again this year, Kuznetsov said he’d very much prefer the team’s captain get all that fun history over with as quickly as possible.
“I really hope that he’s gonna score 80 or 90 (this season) so in two seasons he can hit the record and we don’t have to think about or talk about that,” Kuznetsov said laughing. “He can finally retire and we can focus on the future.
“I’ve said so many times that we’ve been around him every day and you don’t really realize who you play with,” he said more earnestly. “He’s a nice guy, he’s always smiling, we always make jokes on him and he never put himself on top of us. He’s always walking on the same ground with us. It’s kinda hard to realize who we play with.”
The Capitals made a bevy of moves this past offseason, bringing in key contributors to their forward group in Connor Brown and Dylan Strome as well as fully revamping their goaltending tandem by signing Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren. The Caps’ number one center is happy with what they’ve done.
“I feel like they’re excited to be here,” Kuznetsov said. “They really want to work with us. They’re good players in my opinion. I think they’re going to make our group much better, much more flexible. I feel like Mac (Brian MacLellan) did a very good job with all the signings, especially acquiring Brownie. That’s a huge signing for us.”
The 30-year-old playmaker had the second-best season of his career points-wise in 2021-22, coming up with 78 points from 79 games. He had made it a point to prove his worth before the season started and was trusted to take a bigger role on things like the penalty kill as the team went through difficult stretches of combined injury and illness issues.
“The expectations went even higher,” Kuznetsov said. “I felt like if I play bad and we have a bad year that everybody will blame me. But, if I’m going to play well and we still gonna have a bad year people still blame me so it’s kinda circle. In a real way, I thought it wasn’t about just me and Ovi. It was about the young guys who step up and all those players that play well during those 40 games at the beginning of the season. That was a very, very fun time for us.”
The 2022-23 campaign will be Kuzy’s tenth season as a member of the Capitals.
“If you know me well there’s not a lot of pressure on me,” Kuznetsov said. “At the same time if there is pressure you can use it as motivation. You have to understand that when you represent this team there is always expectations, certain level. That’s good thing because even last year how we play bad or good there is always sold out, always full house and fans always expecting us to play certain way. We have to play our game, our style.”
The Caps will miss one of Kuznetsov’s regular linemates in Tom Wilson for the first few months of the season as the big, burly winger recovers from surgery to repair an ACL tear in his knee. Kuzy acknowledges that they’ll miss his on-ice ability as a team but made sure to mention where he’ll personally miss Willy the most.
“Music probably, in the locker room,” Kuznetsov said laughing. “He usually put the music. I’m not saying it’s great music but he put it. It’s more like club music and I’m more of a rap music guy. But, there is another 20 guys in the locker room and you have to do the best playlist that match for everybody. Overall, he’s playing good music, it’s just jokes.
“But in a real way, we’re going to miss him a lot because he’s a key player for us,” he continued. “His presence on the ice makes such a big difference for opponent and for us. I really hope that guys will step up and fill that role and when he comes back we just gonna roll because he’s such a big piece of our team.”
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
