The former Capitals center had quite a bit to say about Toronto's netminder, who has bounced back in the last few games.
Former Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov will face off against longtime friend and ex-teammate Ilya Samsonov on Saturday when the Carolina Hurricanes take on the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Kuznetsov had quite a bit to say about Samsonov before the game.
Kuznetsov caught up with the media in Toronto after Carolina's morning skate and was critical of how the media has treated Samsonov during his two-year tenure with Toronto.
"You guys been so hard on the players in general here over the time," Kuznetsov told reporters, via TSN. "I'm so happy that he doesn't speak English well, so he doesn't understand everything, so that's huge for him.
"I think there's a lot of talks about hockey and team in general, right? that's life here... I'm so happy that he doesn't watch that all the time. He doesn't read everything, which is pretty hard to do sometimes."
Kuznetsov added that he's gone offline after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, staying off social media for the last couple of months. The 31-year-old entered the program in February after a rough start to 2023-24 with the Capitals and was subsequently waived and traded to Carolina.
For Kuznetsov, the move to log off has been beneficial.
"I have no idea what's outside of this locker room... it's kind of nice to live on the other side," Kuznetsov said.
Samsonov is bouncing back of late following his own hardships this season. After an ugly start to the year with Toronto, he was waived and spent some time in the AHL with the Marlies before coming back up, and of late, he's bounced back.
Since March 2, Samsonov has gone 4-0 with a .933 save percentage, which ranks first in the league among all netminders (tied with Marc-Andre Fleury).
Kuznetsov said he and Samsonov have stayed in close contact and talk every day, and he also said that he's looking forward to seeing his countrymate continue to raise the bar.
“I haven’t seen him at the best. The best games are the head of him. I believe his best games are ahead of him," Kuznetsov said. "I'm pretty sure people will see his best version."