Kuznetsov joins KHL after split with Hurricanes

Sports

Former Carolina Hurricanes center Evgeny Kuznetsov will return to Russia to continue his career, signing a four-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg, the Kontinental Hockey League announced Wednesday.

Kuznetsov’s contract with the Hurricanes was terminated two weeks ago by mutual agreement after he cleared unconditional waivers. Kuznetsov walked away from the $6 million salary owed to him in the final season of his $64.2 million, seven-year deal originally signed in 2017. Terms of his contract in the KHL were not announced.

Carolina acquired Kuznetsov from Washington before the trade deadline in March. Kuznetsov was the leading scorer and Conn Smythe runner-up in the Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup run but has been up and down since. He had a combined 13 points in 30 games in a limited role with the Hurricanes in the 2023-24 regular season and playoffs, where they reached the second round.

In September 2019, the NHL suspended Kuznetsov three games without pay for “inappropriate conduct,” less than a month after he was banned from playing for Russia for four years because of a positive test for cocaine.

Kuznetsov more recently entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in February. Upon him being cleared by program administrators to practice, the Capitals put him on waivers.

Articles You May Like

Bosses rail at business secretary over ‘avalanche of costs’
Denver’s newest police cars are now police e-bikes
Researchers Develop Grain-Sized Robots Capable of Carrying Multiple Drugs
Trump or Harris? Millions of Americans set to decide next president
‘Delete the pictures’: Sara Sharif’s father beat her up ‘like crazy’, stepmother wrote on WhatsApp