Evgeny Kuznetsov The first appearance with the Carolina Hurricanes is over. Carolina saw its season end early in the second round of the playoffs against the New York Rangers this week and maintained its media availability at Breakdown Day in Raleigh on Saturday morning.
Another failed playoff run has many wondering if this current Hurricanes team has what it takes to get over the hump. Kuznetsov is used to those types of questions after his decade-plus stint with the Washington Capitals began with constant playoff heartbreak before the club captured the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2018.
“That’s the thing,” Kuznetsov said Saturday. “When we won before it was super easy. Everything clicked. Every day you come, you click. This, this, that, and when I look back it was so exciting, so easy actually. Maybe it’s not one of those moments where we clicked yet and maybe when you do you just enjoy it every day and everyone is executing their roles and stuff like that.”
Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Jordan Staal are the only Hurricanes under contract for next season to have lifted the Cup in their careers. Behind Staal, Kuznetsov is the oldest forward on Carolina’s roster, a position he never found himself in while with the Capitals.
The 32-year-old Russian now takes on a role similar to the one he’s seen players like Alex Ovechkin, Brooks Orpik, Nicklas Backstrom and Justin Williams play on Capitals teams of the past. Kuznetsov believes it is important to have those voices in the locker room.
“That’s why you need older players in the team,” Kuznetsov said. “They always help you. They know when to smile and when not to smile. They know when to take the team to the team event or things like that. That’s why we need those guys and I’ve always had great leadership in front of me and the team I played on before was phenomenal, older guys or younger guys, everyone learns from each other. “That was a great experience.”
After struggling through the early part of the season in Washington, Kuznetsov entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program in February and was traded to the Hurricanes at the trade deadline. Although he started well with Carolina, he cooled off later in his regular season, finishing with just seven points (2g, 5a) in 20 games.
The phenomenal playoff producer of the past found his groove again in this year’s postseason, scoring six points (4g, 2a) in 10 games. Kuznetsov scored the game-winning goal in Game 5 of the second round to force Game 6 back to Raleigh. The series’ thrilling comeback attempt, halted by four unanswered goals by the Rangers in the third period of Game 6, has Kuznetsov already thinking about how Carolina can take the next step next year.
“A lot of guys have to make sure they accept their role on the team and execute and then just work for each other, help each other everywhere,” Kuznetsov said. “It is impossible to change coaches or 1 to 3 players and then think that things are going to change. No, it has to belong to all men and it is difficult to build that something.
“I feel like this team is going towards that when the culture is not game 56 of the regular season or things like that. It’s one of those where you say, ‘Okay, we’re going to be in the playoffs,’ and then we’re gone. It’s one of those where you don’t waste energy and you’re not happy when you win game number 53, 6-1. You come back, you keep working and you know what your goal is.”
Kuznetsov has one season left on his current contract, costing the Hurricanes $3.9 million against the salary cap. Washington retained 50 percent of the final year in the deadline deal.
Carolina has already taken the first step of its offseason, extending head coach Rod Brind’Amour for five more seasons. Brind’Amour, a Cup champion with the Hurricanes as a player in 2006, has been with Carolina since May 2018. He is the fourth-longest serving coach in the NHL.
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