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Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports For stars to win Stanley Cups they need help from their teammates. When Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane won the Cup in 2010 it was big contributions from Patrick Shark and Dustin Byfuglien. Patrice Bergeron had Brad Marchand (before he himself was a star) in 2011. Even the great Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin didn't win Cups on their own, in 2016 they had Phil Kessel and huge goals from Nick Bonino. The 2018 Washington Capitals were no different. Alex Ovechkin will get all the attention, that's just the way it is. When stars win it's because they led their team, when they lose it falls on their shoulders. Same can be said for his partner in crime Nicklas Backstrom. Finally the dynamic duo had some big help in the playoffs. That help came in the form of Evgeny Kuznetsov. The young Russian had been on the team for a few seasons before and had some good regular seasons but the one postseason where he was great the Capitals put their names in the history books. Going into last years playoffs Kuznetsov had 19 career playoff points in three postseason runs. Last year alone he amassed 32 points. He was a definite contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. That award ultimately went to his star teammate Ovechkin (remember what we said about stars taking the glory when things go good). This season has been somewhat of a confusing season for the twenty-six year old center. Looking at his stats alone it's been a fine year, 18 goals and 63 points in 66 games played. Not bad. When you look at splits though it shows the weirdness that has been Evgeny Kuznetsov's season. Look at goal and point totals by month, October -- 5 Goals, 15 Points 10 Games played November -- 1 Goal, 7 Points 9 Games played December -- 1 Goal, 12 Points 13 Games played January -- 2 Goals, 7 Points 12 Games played February -- 8 Goals, 17 Points 14 Games played March (so far) -- 1 Goal , 5 Points 8 Games played Inconsistent is probably the word to use here. he'll have a great month followed by a down month, then a good month followed by another down month. Another split that is shocking is the home and road split. Home games -- 16 Goals, 42 Points 33 Games played Road games -- 2 Goals, 21 Points 33 Games played Just two goals in 33 away games. That's somewhat incredible. Maybe it has something to do with effort. It's easier to play at home when you have your fans there to energize you. How much effort someone gives is hard to judge no matter what other people say, you never really know how much effort someone is truly giving. That being said, there are games and stretches where Kuznetsov can be a fairly invisible player. Games where, unless your looking for him don't really see him. For a player with as much skill and talent as Kuznetsov that can be pretty infuriating. Kuznetsov's uneven play hasn't affected the Capitals too much this season. They are still battling for first place in the division and, in my opinion, they will get that number one seed in the Metro division. Come playoff time however Washington is going to need number ninety-two to be at his best. So what's that mean? What's the best Kuznetsov look like, at least on paper. Here is his advanced stats from some previous postseasons. 2016 playoffs 55.08 Corsi%, 63.69 Scoring Chance %, 60% High Danger Attempts For 2017 playoffs 53.73 Corsi%, 55.98 Scoring Chance %, 46.84% High Danger Attempts For 2018 playoffs 51.47 Corsi%, 54.23 Scoring Chance %, 53.38 High Danger Attempts For Last season, his best season in terms of scoring, was actually his worst season in the advanced stats category. No matter which season you want to look at he's going to have to bring up his current regular season numbers. Those numbers currently look like this. 48.19 Corsi%, 45.64 Scoring Chance%, 41.19 High Danger Attempts For Can he turn his season around in the snap of a finger? When the playoffs start can he flip the switch, a popular NBA phrase these days. Recent history says he possibly can. Kuznetsov didn't exactly light up last regular season in the advanced stats department either. His stats were. 47.82 Corsi%, 55.66 Scoring Chance%, 47.76 High Danger Attempts For The only difference is the scoring chances. Again, to me, that could be effort. Is he skating hard to area's that give him a good chance to score? Is he skating hard to pucks and setting up chances for his teammates? If Kuznetsov gives a good effort every night he has the skill to get goals and has a ton of skill to set up chances for his teammates. Playing with Ovechkin, if he sets up chances we've seen what the "Great Eight" can do. That's what it comes down to for me. If Kuznetsov wants to, he can be one of the best. If he puts in his best we've seen what he can do come spring time and where that takes the Capitals. CJ Witt
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