Caps Re-Sign Kuznetsov

The Washington Capitals got one of their main restricted free agents under wraps, while the other two are headed towards salary arbitration, barring some key negotiations between then and now.  The Caps got a new deal done with Russian forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, after his official rookie season had passed.

Kuznetsov signed a 2-year deal, just out of his entry-level deal, reportedly worth $6 million for the duration, a $3 million cap hit per year.

In the 2014 season, he jumped in for a short stint at the end of the year, playing in 17 games and picking up 9 points, but his full-time role came last season, where he played in 80 games, scored 11 goals and 37 points, ranking him 145th among all forwards in scoring.

His game was quite hit and miss, as he tried to adjust to the North American rinks, going stretches without points during the regular season and when the playoffs came, he did have some stretches without scoring, but they weren't nearly as long.

With a couple of big additions to the Capitals lineup already in this offseason, like Justin Williams and T.J. Oshie, already this team has a different look to it and it presents some different options for the lines next season, which could be exciting for a guy like Kuznetsov.  Also, given that he has now had a bit more time adjusting to the game, knowing where to take his training in the offseason, because of that, I think we could see a different player altogether.

There could be some significant gains here, but I thought he was going to storm out of the gate last year, so I might still be getting ahead of myself.