On Friday, the North American media reported that Washington could trade Kuznetsov in the offseason. However, as it became known to Match TV, Kuznetsov himself has been asking the Capitals for an exchange for the second year through his agent. Previously, the capital club was not ready for this."
There is a reason for this trade request, it appears that the relationship between Kuznetsov and the Capitals has deteriorated. It was reported that the Captials explored the possibility of trading Kuznetsov during the 2021 offseason because he began to annoy some of the members of the Capitals.
It was added by Elliotte Friedman, a reporter for Sportsnet, that Kuznetsov and Samsonov were late for a team meeting, which caused the Capitals to lose more patience with him.
Brian MacLellan, the GM for the Capitals, did not deny these reports, stating that:
"I think we're always open to trading people if it makes sense for what's going on if it makes our team better,» MacLellan said in 2021. «I don't think anybody's off the table. We're not going to trade Ovi or Backy, those types of people, but you have to be open on anything. So we would talk to anybody about any player.»