Capitals' Evgeny Kuznetsov: Penalty-killing duties ahead?

Kuznetsov, according to Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan, could see time killing penalties in 2018-19, Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post reports.

Kuznetsov, 26, has played 11 total shorthanded minutes in the last four seasons; for his career, the Russian has not had much experience playing a man down so perhaps this was nothing more than the musings of a hopeful GM. However, with first-year head coach Todd Reirden wanting to inject more speed into his penalty-killing lineups, Kuznetsov could be tasked with more ice-time in 2018-19 than the 18:49 he averaged a season ago. If he's to become an effective penalty killer, Kuznetsov must improve his faceoff performance, presently holding a career mark of 45.1 percent.