Plot twist in the trade market: The Washington Capitals have just confirmed that Kuznetsov has expressed his desire to be traded

Wow! While it's not uncommon for players to request trades, it is rather unusual for a team's general manager to publicly acknowledge it. It's becoming increasingly likely that the Russian forward has played his last game in Washington.

In fact, a few weeks ago, Elliotte Friedman mentioned that a trade between the Nashville Predators and the Washington Capitals came very close to happening before the opening of free agency. According to his information, Matt Duchene nearly joined Alexander Ovechkin with the Capitals, while Evgeny Kuznetsov would have gone the other way.

Although Kuznetsov's offensive production has dipped somewhat in the past year, he remains a sensational playmaker. There is no doubt that the 31-year-old veteran could greatly assist a team looking to add a top-six center. However, his contract of $7.8 million for the next two seasons could deter some teams interested in acquiring him.

Evgeny Kuznetsov's statistics over the past two years:
(2021-2022): 24 goals and 54 assists (78 points) in 79 games
2022-2023: 12 goals and 43 assists (55 points) in 81 games.

This will be a situation to monitor closely, but it would not be surprising to see the Russian forward traded in the near future.