Sergei Fedotov, a Russian hockey agent and longtime friend of Evgeny Kuznetsov, believes that the forward's time needs to end with the Washington Capitals.

The Washington Capitals and Evgeny Kuznetsov are at a crossroads, and his longtime friend and Russian hockey agent Sergei Fedotov believes that Kuznetsov's time in D.C. should end sooner rather than later.

Fedotov, who represents prospect Matvei Michkov and several other players, spoke on a Russian podcast called "Bettman Will Call" about Kuznetsov, saying that he no longer has the joy or spark in his game that he did back in 2018.

"I've known Zhenya for a very long time... there are people who are quite disciplined. Zhenya's not in this category," Fedotov said, adding, "Right now, he doesn't have this joy from hockey. And Kuznetsov, without a spark, he's not interested in anything."

Kuznetsov is coming off another tough year in D.C. where he had 12 goals and 43 assists in 81 games, as well as a plus-minus rating of minus-26 and a career-low shooting percentage of seven percent.

General manager Brian MacLellan was blunt when asked about Kuznetsov's year, expressing disappointment in the 30-year-old's performance while citing his inconsistency and effort. 

"For whatever reason, he never quite found his game. I mean, there are stretches where I thought he played well, but overall, I think he underperformed the season he had last year," MacLellan said.

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Fedotov said that things had been going downhill for Kuznetsov over the last few seasons, citing his positive test for cocaine in 2019 and other issues, including a healthy scratch for disciplinary reasons in 2020-21 and two bouts of COVID-19. He had a strong bounce-back campaign in 2021-22 but wasn't able to replicate it this past season as he's shown a decline in performance.

There were also rumors that Kuznetsov had requested a trade, but he wouldn't comment on that speculation and also said he wasn't sure of where that speculation came from.

"He just needs a change of scenery," Fedotov said, also adding, "He has a family, he has children, he's doing well. But for him to get more spark from hockey -- now, he doesn't have that spark."

In the end, it's clear that change could be on the way for Kuznetsov, who switched agents. And, if it were up to Fedotov, the next move would be leaving the organization.

"100 percent," Fedotov said when asked if it was time for Kuznetsov to move on from the Capitals.