HERSHEY, PA — Minutes before 10:30 am, Evgeny Kuznetsov walked down a dark tunnel and then emerged into the light. For the first time in 11 years, Kuznetsov was not wearing red, white, and blue but chocolate brown — at least on his pants and gloves. No longer a player in the National Hockey League, the 2018 Stanley Cup champion and two-time All-Star was a minor leaguer.
In search of a new home, Kuznetsov found exactly that in front of nearly 100 excited looker-ons at Giant Center, including one fan who rocked a number 84 Traktor Chelyabinsk jersey. The Russian centerman skated hard with the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears for an hour before signing autographs for fans.
“Obviously, he’s a very talented player,” Hershey Bears head coach Todd Nelson said. “He hasn’t skated for 50 days and he was one of the smoothest guys out there today which is incredible. A lot of our young guys look up to a guy like that.”
“You couldn’t tell he was off for 50 days,” Bears captain Dylan McIlrath said in disbelief. “If I was off for 50 days… you’d know.”
Wearing a raspberry colored Bears practice jersey, Kuznetsov skated on a line with Tyson Empey and Kevin O’Neil, who are regulars on the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays.
“Definitely pretty amazing for me to be on the ice with a guy like that,” Empey, who has scored 16 goals in 50 games with the Stingrays this season, said. “You know, an NHL champion, a Stanley Cup champ, All-Star. Pretty crazy, definitely pretty sweet to get to be on a line with him today.”
Like the others around him, the 31-year-old Kuznetsov was back playing the game he loved and excelled in, but perhaps for the first time in a long time, without the same microscope, pressure, and expectations that have dogged him since the Capitals’ championship year.
The last time Kuznetsov was around a hockey team in general was on January 27, when the Capitals fell to the Dallas Stars 5-4. Kuznetsov registered two assists in the game — a primary assist on a first period Anthony Mantha goal and then later, a secondary assist on an Alex Ovechkin power-play goal with two minutes remaining in regulation. The game and the points may be Kuznetsov’s last with the franchise that originally selected him in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
The Capitals left for their bye week and the NHL All-Star Break after that. When they returned on February 5, Kuznetsov, who spent his time in Miami, FL with his wife and former teammate Dmitry Orlov, entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program — a joint project between the league and players’ organization to support players dealing with mental health, substance abuse, and other issues.
Kuznetsov was away for 26 days before being reinstated on March 2, keeping lines of communication open while he was gone with his close friend and captain Alex Ovechkin.
Instead of bringing him back to the NHL team, the Capitals immediately put Kuznetsov on waivers hoping to help find the forward a fresh start. After the other 31 NHL teams passed on Kuznetsov and his $7.8 million cap hit, general manager Brian MacLellan assigned the Chelyabinsk, Russia native to Hershey where he is believed to be the highest-paid player in AHL history.
“I was surprised,” Nelson said. “We found out that he was on waivers and you’re waiting to see if anyone claims him and nobody claimed him. Then we’re waiting to see what’s going to happen next. It was just a situation where we were waiting to hear from management and two days ago, it was like, until I see the whites of his eyes, I’m not counting on him.”
“I think we were getting ready for the game in Lehigh,” McIlrath said of when he first found out. “Obviously there’s some chatter. We obviously had a game to play, but that’s pretty big news to add a player like Kuzy.”
Making national headlines across the NHL over the weekend, Kuznetsov’s arrival was both unexpected and invigorating, creating what alternate captain Aaron Ness described as a buzz around the team, bringing more fans and media to the rink. The players were certainly aware of it, too. For instance, as I tried to take photos of Kuznetsov through the glass, Russian forward Bogdan Trineyev tried to block my view. “No Kuzy pictures, no Kuzy pictures,” he said laughing.
“Everyone’s really excited,” Ness said. “He’s an incredible talent, an incredible player. He’s fun to watch. It’s going to be exciting. You guys are all here, it’s a great mood, and everyone’s ripping around so hopefully we can use that to our advantage here.”
The most notable part of Kuznetsov’s arrival, beyond his skating, was the positive energy he brought.
“He showed up this morning bright and early and had the dressing room all laughing in there,” Nelson said. “In fact, he walked into the assistant coaches’ office and said, ‘Hey, are you guys excited to see me?’ He has that personality to him and the coaches all laughed.”
In Kuznetsov’s first minutes with the club, he sat on the bench with goaltender Hunter Shepard before noticing a camera trained on him. He smiled and waved.
“It’s just Kuzy right, he’s always cracking jokes, smile on his face,” Ness said. “He loves the game. It’s fun when you see guys who really love to play hockey, they’re like kids coming to the rink every day. We’re obviously all very lucky to do this for a living and he’s no different.”
“I’ve gotten to know Kuzy a little bit over the last few years and we’ve had a really good relationship, so it’s great to see him just walking through the doors, hearing his token laugh,” McIlrath said. “It brought a big energy, a big buzz to the rink and it was fun.”
The biggest intrigue among players and coaches was Kuznetsov’s conditioning.
“I said, ‘Have you been working out?’ and he goes, ‘Yeah, I’m jacked right now,'” Nelson said.
At or near his top form, Kuznetsov could be a game-changing and impactful player for the reigning Calder Cup champions. The Bears are 41-10-0-4 and are 13 points ahead of the next closest team in the standings. While the Bears realize Kuznetsov could be dealt to another NHL team before the trade deadline or returned to the Capitals, they have allowed themselves to consider the possibilities if Kuznetsov, the NHL’s postseason leader in points back in 2018, is still with the club in the spring.
“We’re going to take it one day at a time here but what an asset to have down the middle,” McIlrath said. “We are a really good team and to add Kuzy, I was just thinking that we’re going to take this as a good opportunity. We have one of the highest-talented players that ever played in the AHL by far and an eager guy that wants to play and he’s going to want to help us win. And that could be a really big asset for us. Hopefully it goes that way.”
Kuznetsov is now in a follow-up phase of the player assistance program that has allowed him to practice. Kuznetsov did not speak to the press after the skate, though he did walk past the media room inquisitively and could be seen smiling. When he’s cleared to play in a game next, he will speak again.
Tuesday’s skate will be the only practice the Bears host at home before jumping on a bus to North Carolina on Wednesday. Hershey will take on the Charlotte Checkers in a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday at Bojangles Coliseum. There’s no telling if Kuznetsov will join them.
“That’s something that I’m going to talk to management about,” Nelson said. “We wanted to see how today’s practice went. We’re going to talk with management and try to get a game plan moving forward.”
He added, “When I come to the rink tomorrow, I’ll see who I have here, and whoever I have will make the trip to Charlotte.”
But all in all, there was no doubt about one thing.
“It was a good first day,” Nelson said.
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