from Samantha Pell of the Washington Post,
Evgeny Kuznetsov knew something needed to change. He had just gone through yet another inconsistent season — this one marred by two stints on the league’s coronavirus list — and his name was in the center of trade talks.
So, the flashy Washington Capitals center put his head down in the offseason and started training. He worked out two to three times a day, staying home in Virginia as he skated on his own.
He let critiques about his game fuel his training and once training camp started, he knew what he had to do. He needed to change details in his own game to work better with the coaching staff and see the on-ice results both sides wanted.
“To have the confidence from the coach, so he can allow me to create more on the ice, I have to give him something first,” Kuznetsov said in a recent conversation with The Washington Post. “So I came back to camp, I did everything that they like and instead of taking a step back and complaining about it, I take a step toward them and did everything that they told me to do.
“The biggest reason why I am here is my commitment. The things I’ve done, the things I want to do. I changed a lot of things. I had to change those things, right?”
Kuznetsov has seen the results from his strong summer. He has five goals and seven assists through the first eight games of the season. Last season, he had nine goals in 41 games.
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