Hurricanes acquire F Evgeny Kuznetsov from Capitals

The Carolina Hurricanes continued to make moves at the NHL trade deadline, acquiring forward Evgeny Kuznetsov from the Washington Capitals on Friday.

The Capitals received a 2025 third-round draft pick and will retain 50 percent of the salary for Kuznetsov, who has another season remaining on his deal at an annual average value of $7.8 million.

The move comes a day after the Hurricanes acquired forward Jake Guentzel and defenseman Ty Smith from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forwards Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius and conditional 2024 first- and fifth-round draft picks.

Kuznetsov, 31, has spent his career with the Capitals, who selected him No. 26 overall in the 2010 NHL Draft. He continued to play in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League until making his NHL debut in 2014.

On Saturday, the Capitals placed Kuznetsov on waivers, just hours after he was cleared to resume practice after missing 12 games while in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program.

"He's been looking for a change in environment, and this might set the wheels in motion for that to be accomplished," general manager Brian MacLellan told reporters Saturday.

Earlier Saturday morning, the NHL announced that Kuznetsov had entered the follow-up care phase of the assistance program and was eligible to practice, though not yet cleared to return to game action.

While awaiting a trade, Kuznetsov skated with the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears.

In 43 games this season, the two-time All-Star had 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) and averaged 18:47 of ice time, just shy of his career high.

He had 568 career points (171 goals, 397 assists), a plus-38 rating and 31 game-winning goals in 723 games with Washington.

He won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018 when he scored a remarkable 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 24 games during Washington's run in the playoffs.

—Field Level Media