Photo: Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports
Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov played in his 300th NHL game Thursday night against the Bruins. Kuznetsov is the 63rd player in franchise history to play in 300 games. The 25-year old from Russia has been a big factor on the Capitals since his NHL debut in March 2014.
Kuznetsov was selected by the Capitals with 26th overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft but didn’t make his Capitals debut until March 10, 2014 having spent time in the KHL prior to that. His first NHL goal came in clutch fashion in a big game against the Kings on March 25th as his tally came late in the third period to force overtime with 41.5 seconds left.
Since then, Kuznetsov has been a mainstay in the Capitals lineup and has provided fans with some thrilling goals and brilliant passing displays. In his career with the Capitals, he has scored 65 goals and has added a whooping 155 assists for 220 points. His best season came in the 2015-16 season that saw the Capitals collect their second ever Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best regular season record where he scored 20 goals and 57 assists for 77 points.
Congratulations to Evgeny Kuznetsov, who is playing in his 300th career game tonight. Kuznetsov becomes the 63rd player in franchise history to play 300 Capitals games. pic.twitter.com/HMqG0PQJP9
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 29, 2017
Kuznetsov is the 21st player that was drafted in 2010 to play in 300 games and his 0.74 points per game is ranked fourth among those 21 drafted players that played in 300 games. With 12 goals and 26 assists already this season, don’t be surprised to see Kuznetsov shatter his 2015-16 numbers by season’s end.
By Michael Marzzacco
Follow @marswaggo
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