Maple Leafs miss out on a golden opportunity to land a stud 3C
Chances were slim that Evgeny Kuznetsov was going to remain in the NHL, but he officially signed in the KHL today, marking a missed opportunity for the Maple Leafs.
Two weeks ago the Carolina Hurricanes announced that they had placed Kuznetsov on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination and while the Russian forward remained on the open market, chances for him to remain in the NHL looked slim to none.
His desires remained on the idea of returning home and playing in the KHL, but it begs the question of if an NHL club could have dissuaded him from those dreams and signed him to a relatively cheap contract in the middle of the summer.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are among many teams that could have used his offensive weaponry but alas, Kuznetsov officially signed his 4-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg today.
The 32-year-old native of Chelyabinsk, Russia, played in 743 games across 11 seasons with the Washington Capitals and most recently the Hurricanes. He scored 173 goals and 575 points - all but 7 of them with the Capitals - and was a key component to Washington's Stanley Cup run in 2018 when he led the circuit with 20 assists and 32 points.
He was traded to Carolina ahead of the trade deadline with half of his salary retained for the following 2 seasons but after a bumpy - and short - tenure with the Hurricanes, both sides felt a contract termination was the right move.
Kuznetsov played in parts of 5 seasons in the KHL from 2009-10 to 2013-14 for Chelyabinsk Traktor before making the jump to the NHL. His best season in Russia included 19 goals and 44 points in 51 contests in 2012-13, while his best season in the NHL came in 2017-18 when he scored 27 goals and 83 points in the regular season before his triumphant playoff run.
Chances were slim for the Maple Leafs regardless but now they'll have to look elsewhere for a cheap veteran centre-man on the open market with training camp right around the corner.
Source for Evgeny Kuznetsov's statistics: HockeyDB
Evgeny Kuznetsov stats and bio
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 31 | 1244 ANSWERS Maple Leafs miss out on a golden opportunity to land a stud 3C If you had the chance, would you have preferred the Maple Leafs to target Evgeny Kuznetsov? | ||
| No, he's more of a liability at this stage | 923 | 74.2 % |
| Yes, he would have been the perfect 3C and PP2 | 321 | 25.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
