Washington Capitals star Evgeny Kuznetsov found himself in a tough situation after a recent video surfaced online.
The Twitter video appears to show the Stanley Cup champion sitting near a table with white lines of powder on it and a rolled-up bill.
You can watch the video below:
Deleted #Kuznetsov cocaine video. pic.twitter.com/6pykNGkXl0
— Breaking Lucky (@breakinglucky18) May 27, 2019
The team released a statement late Monday saying they were in the “process of gathering facts,” and Kuznetsov responded by saying the video was from 2018 after he visited a friend’s room following the Stanley Cup victory.
Kuznetsov left the room after seeing the white powder and women he didn’t know, according to his statement to Sports Express,
Caps spokesman: “We are aware of the video that surfaced on social media of Evgeny Kuznetsov. We are currently in the process of gathering facts and will have no further comment at this time.”
Kuznetsov was shown sitting next to two lines of white powder.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) May 27, 2019
Kuznetsov gave a statement to @sportexpress, in which he said the video was from Vegas, when the Caps won the 2018 Stanley Cup. He says he visited a friend’s room, and after seeing the substances and women he didn’t know, he left. https://t.co/PjGZ81mhBm
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) May 27, 2019
Let me sum up this situation for you all below:
Is it the worst video on the internet? No, but having a video making the rounds of an NHL star sitting near a table with lines of white powder and a rolled up bill is not something the league or the Caps want to deal with. (RELATED: St. Louis Blues Advance To The Stanley Cup Final, Will Face The Boston Bruins)
Also, he doesn’t really seem to be in a huge hurry to leave the room. In fact, he seems like he’s just casually chilling in the short video clip. I wouldn’t say the Capitals star was running for the door like there was a fire.
If he actually got the hell out of the room, why was there enough time to take a video of him just appearing to be relaxing?
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I have no idea what the NHL can even do here. Again, he didn’t really do anything in the video that’s awful, and I’m not sure you can suspend somebody for simply sitting near some lines of white powder.
What I do know for sure is Kuznetsov needs to stick to his story of this being an old video and him dipping out after seeing the women and white powder.
At this point, there’s no other option on the table. Take that storyline to the grave, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the truth or not at this point.
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Best of luck to Kuznetsov. I don’t envy the position he’s about to be in when the league comes calling.