Evgeny Kuznetsov signs in KHL, puts NHL return on pause

A former NHL star is staying in his homeland for another season.

On Wednesday, Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League announced that the team has signed forward Evgeny Kuznetsov to a one-year contract.

The news comes just a few months after Kuznetsov’s agent, Shumi Babayev, made an announcement that his client was planning on returning to the NHL.

“From now on, I represent the interests of Evgeny Kuznetsov in the National Hockey League,” Babayev stated in a Telegram post. “Today I have already spoken with a number of clubs about Evgeny’s contract in the NHL. I have decided that next year he will play in North America.”

The 33-year-old hasn’t played in the league since the end of the 2023-24 season, which saw him round out the year with the Carolina Hurricanes. Last season, he was in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg. In 39 games in his return to Russia, the Chelyabinsk native scored 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points. He also scored three points in six Gagarin Cup Playoff games, while SKA was defeated by Dynamo Moscow in the first round.

Kuzentsov joins a Metallurg team that finished third in the KHL’s Eastern Conference, but fell to Avangard Omsk in the conference quarterfinals.

There was a time when Kuznetsov was regarded as one of the elite players in the NHL. Bursting onto the scene with the Washington Capitals late in the 2013-14 season, he was part of the team’s talented core, including Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson. His best season came in 2017-18, when he set career highs in goals (27), assists (56) and points (83). He also led all skaters with 32 points in the postseason, helping the Capitals capture the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

In 743 NHL regular-season games, Kuznetsov scored 173 goals and 402 assists for 575 points, with another 73 points in 97 playoff affairs.