It was just confirmed for the Bruins and Evgeny Kuznetsov
The Boston Bruins will not be signing depth forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, as he has headed back home to Russia.
The former Stanley Cup-winning forward has signed a four-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL.
The move had originally be reported on July 15th by Championat's Arina Nuriakhmetova, only to be "refuted" by agent Shumi Babaev.
He was at the end of his contract with the Carolina Hurricanes and the two sides mutually agreed to a contract termination. He was put on unconditional waivers, of which Don Sweeney could've made a bargain deal with Kuzy to bring him to Boston, but failed to do so.
According to Babaev, he was still receiving interest from the NHL team, and according to Russian sources using it to as a ploy to drum up interest in the 2nd best hockey league in the world.
Kuznetsov was once a 70-point forward, but in 2023-2024 his production declined significantly.
The Capitals would retain half of his $7.8 Million salary, as the Hurricanes took on the forward remaining hit, of which is nonexistent with the contract termination.
In 63 games between the Caps and Canes, he only posted 24 points( 6 G, 18 A) the worst production of his entire NHL career.
Before he was traded to Carolina however, he was placed in the NHL/NHLPA players assistance program, no one would claim his contract.
Once a top-six forward in Washington, alternating the top-line center role with Nicklas Backstrom, his career year came in 2017-2018 scoring 83 points, along with winning the Stanley Cup that season.
This marks the end of his NHL career, totaling 575 points( 173 G, 402 A) in 743 games, 723 of which in a Capitals jersey.
| POLL | ||
Should the Bruins have signed Kuznetsov? | ||
| Yes | 30 | 41.7 % |
| No | 42 | 58.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
