Canes Make Trade Deadline Splashes The Carolina Hurricanes made their second big move of the trade deadline Friday morning as they acquired center Evgeny Kuznetsov from the Washington Capitals at 50% retention for a 2025 third-round pick. Kuznetsov, who was actually already in the state for a game against the Charlotte Checkers, was picked up by jet and made it in time for the Canes' Friday afternoon practice. After practice, he spoke with the media. Here's what he had to say: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the trade: It was a quick turnaround. I was at the morning skate this morning in Charlotte and then I got a call. I haven't even had the chance to talk to my ex teammates. It was a quick flight here and then practice. Not much I can understand right now, it's all emotions and stuff like that, but I want to say thanks to the whole Caps organization and the fans. It was 11 years. Both of my kids were born there. That city has a massive chunk of my heart. Unfortunately, I have to leave that way, on that note, but it's life. No regrets in my life. I'm going to remember, for the rest of my life, my time over there. It was amazing. Amazing memories, bad and good. All kinds of memories. Happy to be here and in a new chapter in my life. That was something that I was looking for and it's a perfect match for me. The guys have been welcoming so far. Only Orlov's just been bad to me. On having a familiar face like Dmitry Orlov in the room: It's big. I've known him since I was 16 years old. We played together, we were roommates together, we've spent a lot of good and bad days together. Our families and parents are tight, so it was meant to be here. It's the perfect match for me. That's what I was looking for. On if he knows Andrei Svechnikov or Pyotr Kochetkov: Yeah, of course. They know me more than I know them probably from them using the internet these days. I hope that I'll change how they think about me. I can help the team. On joining forced with a former Pittsburgh Penguin in Jake Guentzel: He was actually a nice guy. I played with him at the All-Star Game. He's a nice guy and he never said anything bad to me during the games. He's probably afraid of me. He doesn't know what to expect from the Russian guy, but I was very pumped to come here, especially with all the additions they got. Just fun to be around. On where his game is: We'll see next game, I guess. There's a high expectation, high standards. I haven't been playing the way I have to play lately. I accept that and I'm working on that. That's not something that I'm happy about. I know how this team plays and how I need to play. I'm sure they're going to show me a few hours of video today and I'll get to understand the system. At the end of the day, you just have your skill on the ice. You have to make decisions and you have to understand what's the moment to make plays and what's the moment to play a simple game. I feel like I can play both. On experiences with Rod Brind'Amour: [The All-Star Game] was probably the moment he realized he needed [me and Guentzel] on his team. On when he expects to play: I was hoping that my flight got delayed so I could miss the practice today, but it didn't happen. Just jokes. But no, I don't know. I'll talk to the coaches and I'm travelling with the team for sure. One of my goals was to get here on time for the practice today. I went through some adversity this morning, but it was something that I was looking for. I need to get back to hockey. I haven't played in a long time. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life before. The best way to say sorry to the people, is to play the game and make a big impact on the game. That's how I can help. On his accountability: I was never running away from the mistakes I've made in the past. I never regretted those. I think it's an amazing life learning point and I've learned a lot. This is my last opportunity. This is my last chance. Everything is in my power right now. There is nothing outside. I'm pretty sure the guys are going to be supportive and help with all of that stuff, but I need to perform on the ice. Not only in the shootouts. I do need to do something more. On playing with high-end players: Even if you look at those teams that are in the bottom of the league, they still have a lot of good players. There is still a lot of good players, but just something is not clicking. Hockey is changing. Every year you can see young people and they can skate already and move the puck and play all types of games. So the hockey is getting better and basically anywhere you go, you can play with amazing players. It's all about if the coaches or people upstairs can put it together where everything clicks. That's when you can roll. On if he thinks Alex Ovechkin can still catch Wayne Gretzky's scoring record: He will. I know that. He will. I hope I'm not going to pass him that puck. That I'll play against him and turn it over and then he'll score. But I'm happy. We had an amazing relationship. There's been a lot of good, bad days, but no matter what, he was always next to me. He was always one phone call away from me and was a big part of my success and my career. I don't want to say a lot of good stuff about him publicly because he's going to read this interview and I want to keep that stuff between us. I loved the guys in that locker room too. On what makes the difference on a Cup-winning team: The biggest takeaway from that Cup run was every player accepting the role they played on the team. We all were working as a one-man unit. It doesn't matter if you like your role or not, everybody was performing and competing. There was such an amazing feeling, but I'm trying not to compare the teams together. Every team is special and every team is different. I hope that we can do something special over here. These fans have been waiting a long time to get a good team and now they have a good team. There's high expectations and we have to make sure that we raise the standard for ourselves too. For myself, staying out of those troubles on the ice. Little details will make the difference. On the Game 7 loss to Carolina: The thing that hurt me most was that Justin Williams made the pass. The guy that I least expected to send us to the vacation. That was one of those goals that I remember. I saw the puck backdoor and it was absolutely silent in the stadium. It's something that will always be inside of the heart.
