Evgeny Kuznetsov signed an incentive-laden four-year deal with SKA Saint Petersburg over the summer after terminating his NHL contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, as the KHL preseason concludes, it appears the former Stanley Cup champion is already being thrust into an important leadership role.
SKA took their team photo on Tuesday and Kuznetsov was sporting the captain’s ‘C’ on his jersey.
Kuznetsov sat square in the middle of the photo with the team’s alternate captains to either side of him.
The 2018 Stanley Cup champion served as the team’s captain in preseason games but previous thought in Russia was that he was just a placeholder for the injured Alexander Nikishin. Nikishin, one of the Carolina Hurricanes’ top prospects, served as the team’s captain last season but was not wearing a letter of any sort on his jersey during Tuesday’s photo.
The 22-year-old defender is expected to make his way to the NHL at the culmination of this year’s KHL campaign as his contract with SKA will expire which could indicate why Kuznetsov has now assumed the role. The team’s alternate captains are also new with New Jersey Devils draft selection Zakhar Bardakov and former NHL defenseman Nikita Zaitsev donning the ‘A’ on their sweaters.
Unlike NHL teams, which make a big production over team leadership, SKA has not announced Kuznetsov’s apparent nod or officially announced any of the alternates.
Kuznetsov’s new responsibility seems to be a surprise for even him as just over a week ago he assumed that Nikishin would be taking back his post as captain.
“Everyone in our locker room is a leader,” Kuznetsov told Match TV’s Pavel Lysenkov as translated via Google Translate. “This was done rather so that I could better understand the responsibility that lies with me. Thank you for your trust. I hope that Nikishin will soon come out and everything will return to normal.”
Kuznetsov previously served as an alternate captain with the Capitals in 2022 after then-head coach Peter Laviolette gave him the nod with Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, TJ Oshie, and Tom Wilson all out due to injury. Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin, and Dmitry Orlov formed an all-Russian leadership trio during that stretch of games.
The veteran centerman has never previously been a captain in the KHL but did serve as an alternate for Traktor Chelyabinsk during the 2013-14 campaign. His only prior full captain experience came with the Russian national team where he was given the nod at the 2012 World Junior Championship.
SKA and Kuznetsov will kick off their regular season on September 5 against Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The game will be Kuznetsov’s first in the league since March 4, 2014.
