While battling the Boston Bruins in their Stanley Cup Finals first round series, the Washington Capitals could be struggling with a major issue off the ice. Despite the fact that the Capitals franchise has yet to confirm anything, there is now a very reliable claim that a Capitals player has tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.
This is what we know so far. Both forward Evgeny Kuznetsov and goalie Ilya Samsonov were sidelined by the National Hockey League's COVID protocols on Saturday, and the Capitals were without both players. According to Samantha Pell of the Washington Post, a source has told her that one of the players tested positive for the deadly virus, while the other was deemed a "near touch" and was also put in the protocol.
Now, I'm not going to speculate about which player tested positive and which player was the near touch, but I can give you more information that will undoubtedly lead you to your own conclusions. Samsonov was taken off the league's COVID protocols list on Saturday, just before Game 1 against the Boston Bruins, but the same cannot be said for Kuznetsov. In reality, the Capitals have provided no indication of when he is expected to return as of this writing; draw your own conclusions.
Despite the fact that Kuznetsov remains a famous player in Washington, there is no denying that a long list of off-ice issues has led to at least a portion of the Capitals fan base being tired of his antics. On May 4th, Kuznetsov and Samsonov were put in COVID protocols after the Capitals disciplined both of them, causing them to miss a game against the New York Rangers. In addition, a now-famous incident in January resulted in a number of Capitals players, including captain Alex Ovechkin, being included in the NHL's COVID protocols, and Kuznetsov was one of those players.
