Alexey Dementyev: “I wouldn’t rush to think that Kuznetsov will be a KHL star”

Hockey agent Alexey Dementyev answered the question about how he sees the future of forward Evgeny Kuznetsov.

On Thursday, the NHL officially terminated Carolina’s contract with Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was supposed to receive $7.8 million for the 2024-25 season, with the salary being split equally between the Hurricanes and Washington. At the moment, the 32-year-old forward is officially an unrestricted free agent. According to Match TV, he will sign a four-year contract with SKA.

— Putting a player on unconditional waivers means that the club has already tried to trade this player, but did not find an acceptable solution and opportunities. After going through the draft procedure, the club has the right to buy out the contract, thereby freeing up space on the payroll for signing other hockey players. At the same time, this means that interest in the player in the league has disappeared. Which is a difficult factor for others to perceive, especially for a player of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s level.

— Did Kuznetsov’s career in the NHL work out or did he not realize his potential?

— Evgeni has always had very serious potential, a very talented player. A typical representative of the Chelyabinsk school, who senses the game moment with his gut. Technically very well equipped, fast, productive, but lately something has not worked out, something has not worked out. Maybe he has started to get distracted by other things than hockey. But in any case, I wish him all the best, victories, productivity and results. So that he continues to delight fans and hockey lovers with his game.

— Can he become a star of the league in the KHL?

— I wouldn’t rush with such epithets. He needs to come, start playing, show results, and then we can already say whether he can become a star after everything that happened to him. There are enough players in the league who have already made a name for themselves and play quite consistently every year. Here, Evgeny needs to reboot his career and, God willing, everything will work out, so that he becomes a star and the main newsmaker of the victories of the team he will play for, — RB Sport quotes Kuznetsov as saying.

Kuznetsov had 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 43 games for Washington last season and added 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) in 30 games for Carolina after the trade.

The forward played for Chelyabinsk’s Traktor from 2009 to 2014.