Evgeny Kuznetsov has officially signed on the dotted line and is returning to the KHL.
Kuznetsov inked a four-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg on Wednesday, July 31, likely ending his career in the NHL for good.
It’s official!⚡️
Evgeny Kuznetsov is a SKA player! The successful forward has signed a four-year contract with our organisation.
Welcome to Saint Petersburg! #hcSKA pic.twitter.com/vO0gRLHW18
— SKA Ice Hockey Club (@hcSKA_News) July 31, 2024
Per Match TV, the 32-year-old center will earn 92 million rubles per season — a nod to his jersey number — which is worth around $1 million USD.
Kuzy. Is. Back. pic.twitter.com/f3AEd0ypJE
— KHL (@khl_eng) July 31, 2024
Additional reporting from Sport24’s Daria Tuboltseva states that Kuznetsov could earn as much as $11.7 million more per season with SKA if he hits four performance bonuses annually.
Evgeny Kuznetsov’s possible bonuses per season
- $3.5 million for finishing in the top 3 of KHL point-scoring
- $3.5 million for finishing in the top 3 of KHL goal-scoring
- $3.5 million for finishing in the top 3 of KHL plus-minus
- $1.2 million if SKA wins the Gagarin Cup
“The decision was well-thought-out, and we made it as a family,” Kuznetsov said in his first interview since signing. “Perhaps my time has come. Everyone has their own time, and it’s time to leave, or in this case to leave the NHL. We are all very happy to be in St. Petersburg.
“I had a very long year,” he continued. “I understood and realized a lot for myself. I really want to play Russian hockey, to immerse myself in the realities of the KHL. I will do it with pleasure.”
Going by just Kuznetsov’s salary, the new deal represents a massive pay cut from what the 2018 Stanley Cup champion would have earned if he had stayed in the NHL for the final year of his contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Per PuckPedia, before coming to terms on a mutual contract termination, Kuznetsov was set to make $8 million with Carolina during the 2024-25 campaign. The Washington Capitals retained 50 percent of his cap hit ($3.9 million) in the trade deadline deal with the Hurricanes and received all of that cap space back when Kuznetsov’s contract was terminated.
The Russian pivot struggled during the 2023-24 campaign, entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program in February. He called his trade to the Hurricanes his “last chance” in the league. From a pure production standpoint, Kuznetsov had the worst season of his career, posting 24 points (8g, 16a) in 63 games with the Capitals and Hurricanes combined.
With the bonuses, Kuznetsov could make a maximum of around $12.7 million. That KHL salary would place him in the top 10 of NHL salaries for next year. He would make almost $2 million more than his former teammate and good friend Alex Ovechkin will with the Capitals ($11 million).
Though those bonuses may prove difficult to achieve. Kuznetsov never finished in the top three in goals, points, or plus-minus while playing in the NHL. He did win a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018, finishing as the league’s top postseason scorer with 32 points (12g, 20a) in 24 games.
During Kuznetsov’s previous five-year stint in the KHL with Traktor Chelyabinsk, he did not achieve any of the four bonus objectives. His highest-scoring finish came during the 2012-13 season when he ended with 44 points (19g, 25a) in 51 games which was good for the seventh-best mark in the league.
SKA acquired Kuznetsov’s KHL rights from Traktor for approximately one million dollars the day after Kuznetsov re-signed with the Capitals in 2017. The club previously offered Kuznetsov a big money deal then to try and lure him away from the Capitals.
Kuznetsov flew to St. Petersburg with his family to make the deal official. He believes he will ultimately finish his career where it first began.
“I have a great career ahead of me at SKA,” Kuznetsov said. “And then Traktor awaits me.
“Right now, everything has turned out in such a way that I am not yet ready to go to Chelyabinsk,” he added. “The city itself — it would be very difficult for me there. And I need time to readjust a little. You know, if I suddenly left Washington through Raleigh straight to Chelyabinsk, I would not be able to have a quiet life. I probably would not be able to go outside at all.”
This story has been updated.
