It’s probably too soon to evaluate Kuzy’s time in DC. I think he’s been both a fantastic player, and something of a disappointment. We had some fantastic moments, and a couple of great seasons but I also think the last 3-4 years have been pretty underwhelming.
That said. We’ll always have Game 6 Vs Pittsburgh. We’ll always have that goal against the Islanders in Game 7; a goal that gave an entire fanbase a hope that maybe this era could be different. Bird Celly’s, Slow-mo shootouts and “Not My First Rodeo’s”.
Thanks for the memories Kuzy. I hope you figure some things out and find a way to be happy in whatever comes next.
In some ways he reminds me of Semin - different type of player, of course, but when Semin was on his game, he was amazing. I remember one play where Semin just kind of looked around for a moment, then suddenly fired it into the cage. Joe B described it as a laser beam. Unfortunately Semin, like recent Kuzy, seemed to lose focus quite a bit. Odd they’d both go to Carolina.
Semin was my favourite player of the early Ovi era. That shot and the ability to find the corner blew me away as an new fan. Real shame how quick his career fell off. That Montréal series seemed (in hindsight) to kind of signal the end.
That Montreal series exposed several weaknesses in the Caps game. Usually defense was their weakness in that era, but Montreal found a few other issues to exploit, and Halak was on fire too.