Evgeny Kuznetsov Apologizes for Controversial Video and Denies Drug Use

Last June, the Washington Capitals were celebrating their Stanley Cup Championship all over Las Vegas after defeating the Golden Knights in five games.

Recently, however, a video surfaced in which Capitals star Evgeny Kuznetsov was seen next to two lines of what appeared to be an illegal substance.

On Friday, Kuznetsov apologized for the misleading video, stating that it was from the team's Las Vegas celebration, but denied using illegal drugs ever in his life.

Evgeny Kuznetsov: "While I have never taken illegal drugs in my life and career, I would like to publicly apologize to the Capitals, my teammates, our fans and everyone else, for putting myself in a bad situation."#ALLCAPS
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) May 31, 2019

He apologized to his teammates and the Capitals organization while denying drug use in all. His apology was based on putting himself in a bad situation to be reasonably misconstrued.

Kuznetsov has blossomed into an emerging star in the NHL with his play for the Capitals not only in the regular season, but his great play in their Stanley Cup run last year. This video could have hurt him in a big way, but luckily it cleared up and he straightened everything out and can hopefully return to his elite level in the Fall.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly statement regarding @Capitals' forward Evgeny Kuznetsov: pic.twitter.com/1KvqktURKG
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 31, 2019

The NHL also cleared Kuznetsov and deemed the video issue as closed, clearing him from any discipline in the future.

Speaking of his future, it is looking bright for himself and the Capitals as a team. With the man who actually created a goal celebration in Kuznetsov, and Alex Ovechkin still at the reigns, Washington is poised to be dangerous once again in the near future.