Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov has been suspended by the NHL for three games for "inappropriate conduct," the league announced on Saturday.
Kuznetsov was previously suspended for four years by the IIHF in August for testing positive for cocaine during the 2019 World Championship.
Cocaine is not a prohibited substance under the NHL's Performance Enhancing Substances Program, as the NHL does not consider it a performance enhancing drug. Instead, the NHL considers it a "drug of abuse," and testing positive for it can lead to intervention, evaluation and mandatory treatment. The only way testing positive would lead to an automatic suspension is if the player was convicted of a drug-related offense.
However, the commissioner is able to suspend players for off-ice conduct "detrimental to or against the welfare of the league or the game of hockey," according to the CBA.
The Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan reported that Kuznetsov met with league officials on Monday, and that the meeting "likely centered on how Kuznetsov apparently misled league officials in late May, when a video of Kuznetsov sitting beside two lines of a white powdery substance during a team trip to Las Vegas last season circulated on social media."
The Capitals open the season with two games on the road, against the Blues and the Islanders. Their third game is their home opener against the Hurricanes on Oct. 5. Kuznetsov will be eligible to return at home against the Stars on Oct. 8.
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