Rangers center options: Evgeny Kuznetsov and his red flags
By Drew Snyder
The draft has come and gone, and the Rangers are still in the market for a number two center. We all know about Jack Eichel being available but enough about him, there are other centers available. One of those centers is Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Capitals are nearly out of cap space and according the Fourth Period, are giving Alex Ovechkin a four-year $40 million deal. In Washington’s exit meetings, general manager Brian MacLellan said they were open to trading anyone. In his post draft interview, he changed his tune saying “We’ve never said we’re trading Kuznetsov.”
Despite what the general manager has said, the Rangers have still inquired about the 29-year-old center according to Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff.com. Whether or not Kuznetsov is available the Rangers should still take caution as he has a ton of red flags.
Red flag one
When you play a season during a global pandemic there are bound to be several teams who deal with outbreaks. Washington was no different and dealt with players testing positive early in the season. One of the players to test positive was Evgeny Kuznetsov. Not only did he contract COVID once, but he contracted it twice.
Kuznetsov and teammate Ilya Samsonov were suspended by the Capitals for disciplinary reasons, then were found to have violated the NHL’s COVID protocol which resulted in the team being fined $100,000.
Next season will more than likely see the NHL implement some form of COVID protocols. The Rangers had a few players contract COVID, but their only outbreak was with the coaching staff. Do the Rangers really want to be fined and go through what they did with Zibanejad again?
Red flag two
Evgeny Kuznetsov has been suspended not only by his team but by the league. He has never faced a suspension from player safety and his only fine was for $2,000 for diving back in 2017. Back In 2019, Kuznetsov was suspended three games for inappropriate conduct. In June 2019, a video on twitter surfaced of Kuznetsov with lines of a white powdery substance.
While he denied the use of cocaine, the IIHF released his positive drug test which led to a four-year suspension from international play.
Last season the Rangers started the year with the NHL’s youngest roster with an average age of 25.0. Kuznetsov’s off-ice habits begs the question of whether he can he be a role model and leader on the NHL’s youngest team.
Red flag three
Moving on from Kuznetsov’s off-ice red flags, let’s look at his on-ice production. The 2017-18 season was a career year for Kuznetsov. He had 27 goals, 56 assists for 83 points. He also scored the series winning goal against Pittsburgh to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. He played a major part in helping the Capitals win the Stanley Cup, but since then his numbers have steadily declined. In 2018-19 he recorded 21 goals, 51 assists for 72 points. In the shortened 2019-20 season he had 19 goals, 33 assists for 52 points in 63 games. This past season he recorded nine goals, 20 assists for 29 points in 41 games.
As we know from Mika Zibanejad, contracting COVID can have major impacts on your play. While you may be able to ignore this season and chalk it up to the pandemic, one thing that you can’t ignore is his ability to stay on the ice. Kuznetsov has not played a full season of hockey since the 2016-17 season. In 2017-18 he missed three games, in 2018-19 he missed six, in 2019-20 he missed six including the suspension, and last season he missed 15.
Let’s compare Kuznetsov to current second line center Ryan Strome. Strome is a year younger at 28. Strome is also cheaper having one year left at $4.5 million compared to Kuznetsov’s four years at $7.8 million per. Strome has also had more points than Kuznetsov in each of the last two seasons and has never missed a game in his three seasons as a Ranger. Strome has also had a better face-off percentage in each of the last two seasons. Strome’s face-off percentage was 47.5% last season and 43.2% this season. Kuznetsov was 43.3% last season and 41.4% this season. Strome is also a leader of this young Rangers team.
While Kuznetsov may be an upgrade over Strome in goal scoring, you cannot objectively say that Kuznetsov is an upgrade over Strome. Strome has the edge in points, games played, and face-off percentage. Kuznetsov price both in trade and contract is just too high for a player who is not better than your current second center.