The Capitals center is back with the team for informal skates.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — With his future uncertain, Evgeny Kuznetsov is back on the ice and has officially rejoined the Washington Capitals ahead of training camp.
Kuznetsov was on the ice for Tuesday's informal skate, joining captain Alex Ovechkin and several other regulars, including Nicklas Backstrom, Dylan Strome and more. He was in good spirits and skating hard during drills and a subsequent scrimmage.
The 31-year-old is approaching one of the most pivotal seasons of his career as trade rumors continue to swirl around him going into 2023-24. The chatter comes after an underwhelming 2022-23 campaign saw him post one of the lowest scoring rates of his career, as he posted 12 goals and 43 assists for 55 points in 81 games.
General manager Brian MacLellan expressed his disappointment with Kuznetsov's performance and also hinted that the team would be revamping the top-6. The Russian's name appeared on multiple trade boards across the league, while Washington was aggressive in trying to make a move at the draft. Though reports indicated that Kuznetsov and Anthony Mantha were the biggest trade chips, neither apparently had that high of a trade value.
MacLellan hinted that the team is still looking at trades going into the new year, but with training camp just a couple of weeks away, the best plan appears to be to wait and see how Kuznetsov responds under new head coach Spencer Carbery. Though Kuznetsov and ex-head coach Peter Laviolette had what Laviolette called an "honest" relationship, neither appeared to truly see eye-to-eye.
For Kuznetsov, he is optimistic that he will be able to bounce back.
"I'm pretty sure I'm gonna figure it out," he said in April.