Athletistic / Hockey. On September 12, six matches will take place in the Kontinental Hockey League. In the evening of the match day, three matches with a higher sign will take place at once – in the capital derby, Spartak will host Dynamo, Igor Larionov’s Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo will visit the hot CSKA, and in St. Petersburg the local SKA will meet with Chelyabinsk Traktor.
The match in the Northern capital is interesting not so much because it will be the first home game of SKA in the new KHL season, but rather because of the meeting between Army captain Egeny Kuznetsov and his home team. The 32-year-old Russian left the Bears for the NHL 10.5 years ago and always said that he wanted to play only for Traktor in the KHL. However, over the years, the situation has changed, and now Kuzya is preparing to take on the Chelyabinsk residents.
The epic of Kuznetsov’s return to Russia lasted several years. Evgeniy first appeared on the ice in an NHL game in March 2014. Almost immediately, he showed the goods and became one of the fundamental players of the Washington Capitals. Four years after moving to North America, Kuznetsov won the Stanley Cup, contributing to the success of the capital. If it had not been for the name of Alexander Ovechkin, then, amicably, the award for the best player (MVP) of the playoffs should have gone to Evgeniy. Then it seemed that another Russian star of the first magnitude had appeared in the NHL, and the Russian national team for the next decade had a center for the first or second line. However, the story turned out differently.
Photo source: GBUDO OYUSSH Chelyabinsk region
In 2019, Evgeniy underwent a doping test at the World Championships in Bratislava, which showed the presence of narcotic substances in his body. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) did not stand on ceremony with the Russian and disqualified him for four years. The IIHF’s jurisdiction does not extend to the NHL, but there, Kuznetsov had to go through the NHL’s player assistance program, pay a fine and miss several games at the beginning of the 20219/2020 season. It seemed then that this would remain a minor misunderstanding that would not affect the Russian’s career in any way. But the reality turned out to be much less rosy.
Kuznetsov lowered the bar for his game every season and fell out of favor with some Washington coaches. In the summer of 2023, Evgeniy came to Russia for a vacation and mentioned in one of his interviews that he wanted to finally return to his homeland. At that time, few people attached much importance to these words, because Kuzi still had a two-year contract on his hands. But after the 2023/2024 season, a year before the end of the employment contract, the Russian managed to negotiate the termination of the contract and returned to Russia.
Last season included a second NHL Player Assistance Program entry, Kuznetsov’s selection by Washington in the waiver draft, his subsequent exile to the AHL and his trade to the Carolina Hurricanes. By the way, as part of the Hurricanes, Evgeniy showed very good hockey and was at times the team’s driving force. However, as it now seems, he already knew that his NHL career was soon to end.
Interestingly, in the summer of 2017, Kuznetsov’s KHL rights were transferred to SKA. The St. Petersburg club was preparing for a possible lockout in the NHL and traded Kuzya from Traktor for monetary compensation. However, the lockout did not take place, and the player’s KHL rights expire when he reaches the age of 29 (he becomes an unrestricted free agent). Therefore, last summer, Evgeniy could have signed a contract with any KHL club. But it was to SKA, and not to Traktor, that Kuznetsov returned from the NHL. On July 31, he signed a four-year contract with the St. Petersburg military team. The hockey player explained the reason for this decision a little later.
Photo source: KHL
— I am not ready to go to Chelyabinsk yet. Not so much to Traktor, but to the city itself – it would be very difficult for me there. You know, it would be a drastic measure to leave Washington via Raleigh directly to Chelyabinsk. I definitely have nothing against Traktor. It is my home, but now I have made a very difficult psychological decision“Match TV quotes Kuznetsov as saying:
Kuznetsov returned to Russia, among other things, to find psychological peace. His explanation of the team’s choice is therefore not only possible, but also necessary to understand. Evgeniy did not hesitate to answer difficult questions, for which we can thank him once again. Whether he made the right choice by signing a contract with SKA, only time will tell.
Evgeny Kuznetsov has currently played 254 games in the KHL and 251 of them in the jersey of his hometown club. In Traktor, Kuzya scored 167 (78+89) points using the goal+assist system, and in SKA he has scored 1 goal so far. It will be interesting to see if the Stanley Cup winner will be able to cope with his emotions and upset his home team. I wonder if this happens, will Kuznetsov show his signature birdie?!
Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
