It doesn’t seem like long ago that the Washington Capitals were desperate for Evgeny Kuznetsov to make the jump across the pond from Russia to the United States. Not only because Kuznetsov was viewed as a top-five prospect in the entire world, but he was long viewed as a potential answer to the gaping hole at second-line center in D.C.
Trial and error was the answer several times prior, utilizing veterans such as Sergei Fedorov or Mike Ribeiro. Alternatively, the Capitals tried several of their own, including current second-line winger Marcus Johansson as well as his former teammate Brooks Laich.